Shipping Calves: Day Two

November 7, 2013 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ Leave a Comment

Like I said last week, when I started to blog all about my adventures (and then failed to finish the job), Fall is my favorite time of year! I love visits to neighbors, getting to ride through the cows a lot and generally it makes me super happy!

Here’s how I spent the 29 of October.

We were up before dawn and saddling by the headlights from the ATV.

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I watched the sun rise for the second day in a row. Seriously, people, everyone should take time in their lives just once, to watch a sunrise.

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There were two pastures to gather today – so part of the crew went up the road several miles to another pasture and set of pens to gather pairs, sort calves and load stock trailers full of the calves that were going to the sale.

I got to ride a pasture I rode last year, and let me tell you, it’s by far one of the prettiest pastures I’ve ever set foot in.

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Once back at the corrals, we started sorting and loading, and waited with baited breath to see if the rigs from the other pasture would make it back. It has been terribly muddy since Atlas, because of all the rain and snow.

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Sure enough they did! Success!

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And as an aside, here in this part of the country we refer to pickups as just that – pickups. They’re not trucks. A truck is an actual big rig (like this cattle pot below) and it makes for a much easier differentiation between the two.

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And that, my friends, was another day in my life.

Happy Trails!

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.