Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Back In The Saddle

It seems like this year we've needed to ride more...which is just fine with me!  We got to saddle up again this morning.  It was a perfect day for riding; no wind, mild temps in the 70's, and blue sky.  We started early and I joined my brother-in-law and our ranch hand on horseback while The Prairie Dad and Kid went ahead on the 4-wheeler to check out where we might need to head to gather cows.

After we got everything to the corral, The Prairie Kid joined us.  He was SO much more confident today on his pony, Bart...almost caulky.  He just jumped in the mix like an old pro.  I love hearing him hooting and hollering at the cows and following suit.  Fun!

I rode up on a mountain lion kill this morning.  Poor deer.  It was a pretty fresh kill...which immediately had me looking around thinking, "predator, where are you???"  Who knows...probably watching us from some sneaky location.  


Our hand also saw a baby elk that was killed. : (


 Getting them into the corral...just to be counted and taken out the other side
 And then, the best part of the day, was when my bro-in-law showed me these...
 
 BRAND new twin antelope babies!  They couldn't have been an hour old yet!  They were about a foot long each and just still as can be.   The ground was still wet around them from their birth.  Amazing!!!

I think The Prairie Kid talked the ranch hand's ear off...and asked a gazillion questions. 

 The Hand told me that The Prairie Kid informed him that red ants taste like sour patch kids.  Huh, I didn't know this... ; )

I was so impressed, again, at The Prairie Kid's riding and moving the cows

 What a great morning!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Staring At The South End...

of north bound cattle. That's what we did today. It was the first time The Prairie Kid got to ride his own horse and move cows with us.  It was great. Here is our "day at a glance:"
Brushing Bart before saddling up
The Prairie Daddy did the saddling...The Prairie Kid got to pose
A Little Riding Lesson
All ready to go!

Heading up the draw to the cows
I went a different direction to open a gate.  Unfortunately, I opened the wrong gate.  : (  The instructions I get aren't always that thorough but I felt bad nonetheless.  We managed but it probably took longer.  
As I was headed from the gate to the herd I was on the opposite side of a draw and my heart was so filled looking at this site...
The Prairie Kid did a good job of trying to keep his horse going and push the cows
After the first round we got to take a granola bar break.  If its good enough to eat, its good enough to wear!
I was so proud of my little man today.  He has never had the chance to ride much and he was on a horse well over 3 hours today.  He did a little fussing but overall he was super tough (I told him he had to be to be a cowboy!) and he was very helpful.  We crossed a milestone today and I look forward to years of riding together on the ranch.