The South Dakota Cowgirl

Life on the Ranch Through My Lens

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The View From Here

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Branding season isn’t as close to wrapping up as it normally would be this time of year because it’s been wet! Really, really, really wet. The rain is going to make the grass really happy, which makes for happy cows and fat horses, but the mud…Gumbo is unlike any kind of mud most of you have ever experienced. It will suck a boot off your foot, a shoe off a horse, and the life out of your legs. It’s strange – that such a sticky, icky dirt will grow such lush pretty grass. You can take pieces of gumbo and make sculptures. I’m just sayin’.

Due to the business of calving heifers (we’re now down to single digits, baby!), branding, and because we have our ranch intern here for the summer, I’m way behind in sharing the beauty that is our life this time of year. So here’s the catch-up post:

Trailing cows (at a neighbor’s) to the corral:

Trailing cows to the corral, south dakota cowgirl photography, blues skies, western lifestyle photography

Blue skies and Brangus Cows:

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Riders on the Prairie:

riders on the prairie, gathering cattle, ranching photos, south dakota cowgirl photography

Calling the saddle horses to oats:

Running horses, south dakota cowgirl photography

Kitty Perry likes to help call the saddle horses to oats:

south dakota cowgirl photography

Does it get better than running horses, blue skies and emerald green grass? I think not.

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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.

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Comments

  4. Robyn says

    Jen,

    We have been turned out to summer grass since May 20th. The Rancher checked cattle yesterday and said the grass is so green and growing that the pastures don’t look like cattle have been grazing on them.

    I spent ALL day power washing vehicles yesterday. Gumbo dried on a flatbed pickup is not so fun.

    Kitty Perry is my favorite shot on today’s post! Hope your branding season goes well.

    Reply

    • the south dakota cowgirl says

      Two brandings are rained out tomorrow, Robyn, and your rancher is right – the pastures are BEAUTIFUL! Gumbo dried anywhere but on the ground where it belongs is not so fun – but we never wash our vehicles. I gave up on that a long time ago! 😉

      Reply

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