Today on the Ranch…

August 27, 2012 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ 2 Comments

We rescued a couple bovines from the mud.

That makes four that have been stuck, in less than 24 hours.

Sunday, we moved all the pairs into a river pasture to “fresh” grass. Note, there’s not much fresh about this drought-ridden country we’ve been dealt this summer, but it’s not grazed down, like the pasture they have been on.

When it’s this time of year, the river goes down fast, as they let a lot of water out, downstream, for barge traffic. And that leaves a lot of boggy, muddy, silty, sticky, messy, wet-gumbo-filled places for cows to get stuck.

So that means we get to check cows at least once a day, if not twice, to make sure they don’t get stuck.

The good news, for you all anyway, is that I take photos of pretty stuff while I’m out making sure the girls are alive and staying out of trouble.

These girls are kind of in predicament, no?

This job requires a pickup, and a chain. Usually the cows are glad to be unstuck, but once in a while, like last night, you will get one that’s a bit on the fight. She’s irritated that she’s been stuck so long and maybe she feels threatened that you walked up so close to her, she was unable to leave and she got a chain around her neck. Cows aren’t used to wearing anything but earrings, after all!

I didn’t get super close, because sometimes you can stress them out when you get too close and they’re stuck, and that can lead to them getting on the fight.

You can see in the below photo that the all black cow has been removed:

Both of these girls were very glad to be free of their predicament.

It’s just another day ’round here! What’s the most exciting thing going on in your world?

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.

Comments

Melissa says

August 28, 2012 at 8:48 am

Oh my gosh I work for the US Army Corps of Engineers and before I became an attorney I was a Law Clerk and we used to have to process cow claims! Not everyone is as diligent about checking their cows so often they would get stuck in the mud and die and then of course it was our fault 🙂 This brings back memories!!!!

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- ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ says
  
  August 28, 2012 at 2:58 pm
  
  OH Melissa, 🙂 – we don’t always have time to be diligent about it either, because running a ranch will keep a person busy. But we do try to be. And yes, that is the deal- the Corps builds a lake, we lose a cow, they’re at fault. How that came to be the rule, I don’t know, but that cow is worth a lot of money these days, so I don’t mind it being the rule.
  
  As for the Corps, I think the Corp should have to maintain and/or pay to fix every water gap each spring- when they fill these things up, and again in the fall, when they let water out so fast it’s like someone’s sucking it out with a straw. Fall is especially the time of year when cows get stuck, for the very reason mentioned above- the water is let out so fast it’s not funny. Fencing in a bog is not my idea of fun, but it must be done. 😀
  
  I’m glad I could bring back memories. I’m betting they weren’t all good, dealing with angry ranchers! ;-).
  
  Thanks for stopping by!
  
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