8/31/11

So today ended up being everything I hoped it would be. What a great day. 

I woke up at 3:45, made some breakfast and coffee, and got ready to saddle up. Apparently a late start id one of Duke sr’s pet peeves, so I made sure to be saddled up by 4:45. It was great, Rafa and I went out to the saddle and leather room

at 4:30 and prepared everything for the ride while blasting Old Crow Medicine Show. It was such a great start to the morning. 

Everyone arrived right on time at 4:45, cinched up, and we were on our way by 5. What a feeling riding into the sunrise, fresh legs, ready for a great ride. We trotted out 6 miles to the pasture we were moving. It was so cool to watch the sun rise while we were trotting out. 

Got to the pasture, and proceeded as normal. Make a game plan for how the wrangle was going to happen, and split up, all going in out own directions to take care of our assignments. 

The Wrangle went swimmingly, the cattle basically moved themselves. This was completely unexpected as these were first time mothers, very protective of their calfs. They did great though, not even a stray calf. 

All around, the move went absolutely great. It was a really great group, a relaxing ride, and a prefect execution. When we got the last calfs through the next gate, Cooper brought up that he saw a cow with an infected sheath (foreskin). We now had to pick it out of the group of 600, rope it, and inject it with antibiotics. So the chase ensued. Duke sr, cooper, and Michael all had ropes. We found the cow, and proceeded to cut him out of the group, the guys roped him with a couple of shots each, and before I knew it, he was on the ground tied up. It was pretty straight forward, Michael took out a syringe, gave him a shot in the neck and we were done. We let him go, and he ran off like nothing had happened. 

We started our trot back to headquarters, and Duke sr approached me about my drip irrigation knowledge. I told him that I had experience with it, and I could help him out if he needed. He told me that Janet wanted to install drip in their green house, and he wanted me to design the system and install it with her, teaching her about it along the way. I gladly accepted the offer, so he told me that he wanted me to come over to their house after the ride and check it out. We ended up talking the rest of the 5 mile trot home. It was absolutely great, my first bonding experience with Duke sr. 

We got home, and headed directly to the Phillip’s house. I took a look at the greenhouse, and knew what needed to be done. We went inside and ordered all the parts online. Julie Nora and I hung out for a while and ate some pizza, it was a good time for sure. Everything seemed like it went great. Their house is beautiful by the way. 

I took off from their house back to the ranch and worked with Duke jr for the next three hours. We solved two major problems he had been suffering from for a while. First, we finished mounting a mobile welder back onto the trailer which it had broken off. A project he had been working on for a month now. It felt great just chillen with him, solving issues he desperately wanted to get solved. We got the welder mounted, it looked great and rode well as far as I could tell. We then moved on to lifting up a 4 ton dump truck off of all 6 of its wheels with a bulldozer and a grader. We had to do this to see if all six wheels were spinning when we tried different solutions. He nailed it on the first try, just by flicking an almost hidden switch below the dash. He was stoked we got it that fast. We let the dump down, and I drove it back to the parking spot. 

We had a great time working together, but then it was time to go lay some pipe. Cooper, stuart, ryan, and our guest Henning from germany went out the pipe loading area and grabbed the next flat of pipe. By the time we got back to headquarters it was 4, so cooper told us that since we woke up so early, we could quit early today. I was relieved, I was tired. 

We hung out in the metal shop and fixed a flat real quick while jiving each other having a lot of fun just hanging out. 

After that I ate a bit of food, and cruised over to may camp to help Duke Coop and Stuart build their new horseshoe pit. We got it mostly finished, now all we need are some regulation horseshoes... Should be a good time when we get those tomorrow while were out going to the rodeo. I hung out there till about 9, playing games and eating more dinner. It was awesome, stuart make chicken bacon spinach quiche, which was stellar. 

Now its time for bed, I have a full day of work tomorrow, then rodeo in the evening. Ill be sure to take a bunch of pictures. 

Until then, here are some more pictures from today’s ride. 

Looking over Brutus's head, into the pack

Nora on the left, Julie on the right. Nice girls. 

Yours truly and brutae. Chillen.

Rafa, Cooper, and Duke (L2R) checking the hay crop.

Every day just keeps getting better.

Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight. 

8/30/11

Hello everyone. 

Today started off with a brand new experience. Bucking bails of hay for 4 hours. The crew and I bucked 400 bails of hay from the alfalfa fields over to headquarters. It was hard work, but really fun. Michael would drive through the middle of two rows of freshly bailed alfalfa, and we would chuck them onto the flatbed trailer while allen stacked them nice and neatly. Were doing this, because in the minter we keep the sheep and some of the horses in the corral, so they need a hefty supply of hay here to eat. So now, there is a massive stack of 400 bails of hay right outside my front door, all ready to go for when it gets balls cold here. We all got into a really good rhythm and started to have a ton of fun with it. Tripping each other while walking with bails, pushing and shoving each other, and throwing insults back and forth about how weak the other guy was. It ended up being a blast and a great, but tiring start to the day. Apparently this buckin hay is a past time of many of the guys here on the ranch, something they did as kids and teenagers for summer jobs and such. 

After we got all the hay stacked and covered, guess what I did... You got it, trenched. For the rest of the day. It was ok today tho, there was a nice breeze, and some good cloud cover to keep me cool. I did however have to trench right next to a steer which was shot just a month ago, and it smelled absolutely terrible. The trencher only moves at 1/10th of a mile an hour, so the smell of death lingered for about a half hour. Nasssty. 

The day ended by blasting some Old Crow Medicine Show (my new favorite bluegrass band)

Pretty good huh? 

In the metal shop while watching Duke jr and Cooper weld the back hoe’s forklift attachment back together. It was really neat to watch them, and I earned a lot. Duke told me that ill have a chance to learn to weld, and a chance to weld a bunch of things if I ever want to. I most definitely will take him up on that. 

I passed up on the rodeo tonight for a couple reasons. One being that tomorrow morning, Ill be waking up at 3:45 for a 5 o’clock riding start, the other being that all the guys are going Thursday anyway, and it’s a ranch rodeo, which is something I have never seen before. Im really looking forward to seeing it, apparently its crazy, just a bunch of local cowboys doing all sorts of ranch style roping an wrangling. 

Im very much looking forward to tomorrows ride. It will be a long one, about 11 hours, and almost everyone will be there, including a bunch of people I haven’t ridden with before but have really wanted to. People like Duke sr, Duke jr, Cooper, Julie, Dawn, and the applying apprentice ryan. Along with them will be Rafa, Michael, Aden, a guest from germany, and Allen. A big happy group. Were trotting out 6 miles to the pasture, and wrangling first time bearers which are heifers who recently birthed their first calf. Apparently they can be a huge handful. Its going to be a great ride. 

I can easily say that riding and wrangling is my favorite thing I do here. I love it. Its so peaceful, riding out into the sunrise, cool wind in your face, a fresh horse, and the whole day ahead of you with one task in mind. No distractions, no cellphones, no emails, no other people other than the team of good friends who you’re working with, a big bottle of water and an apple to eat, and just pure focus on the task at hand. Nothing else. Wrangling typically takes up most of the day, so you’re not thinking about you’re other chores, just what you’re doing, riding your horse, working with your team, and accomplishing a mission.  

It’s 9 pm, and Julie and her friend Nora Just stopped by to say hello. They were coming to tell me they were riding tomorrow, and to get ready, cause it’s gonna be a fun one. I feel a whole new sense of excitement now. This is going to be spectacular. 

I need sleep, lord knows bucking bails will slap it right out of you. 

Some of Kerstein’s pictures from her time here... What a great 3 months she had. I can for-see my time here as being just as fantastic. I should note too, Some of the pictures I posted in pervious entries were of Kersteins taking as well, When I have a chance I’ll go and cite them, as she deserves credit for all of her fantastic photography. Looking through her pictures makes me miss her. She was such a great roommate, and became my good friend in just two weeks. 


Thank you for all of your wonderful insight Kerstein, thank you for your friendship, and thank you for these wonderful photographs. 

Cute pup who lives here at headquarters. Not even sure of his name. Poor guy has a big ol cut on his nose

A nice picture of Barge-H, a makeshift bunkhouse for work far away on the property. 

A really cool thunderhead rolling in, very nice anvil shape on the bottom. Nature is so amazing.

Something what tomorrow is going to look like. I cant wait. 

What I'll see in 9 hours. Yes.

Thanks again for the photos Kerstein, Miss you!

Goodnight everyone. 

8/29/11

Today was semi-uneventful, but very productive.

The day started with Rafa and I going out to the area by Allen's house where we are putting on an art show this weekend. A lot of preparation has to be done to set up, and out first job was to pick up all the sticks and branches that had blown off the trees in the last huge storm we had. There were a ton, so we spent a good hour and a half doing that. Allen took a while showing up with the flail mower we used to cut the grass with, so Rafa and I just chilled out there for a while and talked. It was nice to get to know him better. He is an interesting guy. When Allen showed up, Rafa took over the mowing, and I took Allen back to headquarters.

On a side note, I think its awesome that we have an art show here. All the art in the show consists of pieces in which Chico Basin and Zapata ranch are the subjects and the inspiration. Its a great way to raise money for local artists and the ranch, as well as an opportunity to see some awesome art. Its too bad I havent produced anything to put into the show. 

I then got assigned to take the chainsaw to a tree which had fallen over onto the fence of the sheep run during the storm. I love using that chainsaw. I learned how to sharpen the blades for it, mix 2 stage oil with gasoline, and lubricate the chain today. Its a very powerful tool when used correctly and maintained properly. Like most things around here. So I went and chopped up the tree into firewood, and hauled off the rest of the scraps. By the time I got finished, it was 3pm. 

I then went out to, you guessed it, trench for a while. The trencher was acting very testy today, overheating, stalling, and just overall giving me problems. I only got a few hundred feet done as a result. I did however get to watch some magnificent thunderstorms roll in over head while I was waiting for it to cool down. 

After Cooper relieved me at 5, I went and laid pipe with stuart (yes, I’ve been spelling his name wrong this whole time). We Laid pipe until 6:15 and called it a day. The lighting  was getting a bit close. 

So, it was a normal day. Looking at the schedule, it seems like these will constitute the next week or so. Not too much riding on the schedule. However, looking into the future, were going to the state fair tomorrow for $1 ticket and $1 rodeo night, which should be fun. In the next few weeks my aunt Ingrid, cousins Brooke Kelly and her husband Jim are coming to the ranch to visit which Im completely stoked about. And, Im starting Banjo lessons this weekend. So, all good things to look forward to. 

I received a great email yesterday from my uncle Reedy, I hope he doesnt mind that I share with you some of what he wrote. It struck a chord with me, and really captures a large part of the reason why I am here. I can feel it inside me, but have never really talked about it. He put it very eloquently...

You look like your taking to the country life.  Now you’re starting to get a sniff of why I love the open spaces… I love the city but you can’t take me out of the country… It truly is the open spaces that I love, fresh air, the breeze… I love to sit where nobody is and just close my eyes and listen… You hear the birds, insects, the breeze, grass blowing in the wind, it’s perfect as far as I am concerned… Don’t you love the “Thunderhead Clouds”, they are sooo impressive how they form on a hot day, usually late in the afternoon… The best part of country life is the people though… The people are the best part, they care, they work hard, they have common sense a city boy will never establish, they have loyalty, they have commitment… Look around you El, some of these people will be  the most impressive people you’ll ever spend time around.  They’re simple in all aspects but that is what makes them so awesome… Enjoy your next 5 ½ months my friend… You’re going to learn more about life then a professor could ever teach you… Your ranch hand friends will also teach you more about life, more about yourself then any university, believe me I know… Hope you learn to love what I have loved for the last 50 years, country livin… Good luck, stay in touch and remember to stop your world, sit down, close your eyes and just listen…. Breath through your nostrils and just listen…. It’s “Zen” baby, just Zen…

I love that. I told him that ill try and work on exactly what he said. Closing my eyes breathing deep and just listening. Taking it all in. Reflecting on myself and my time here as often as possible. Its all very important. 


I also told him that my mom taught me how to do this very well at a young age on the beaches of california. Just close your eyes, smell the smells, listen to the waves, and relax. I thank her for that. 

Although its very hard work here on the ranch, I feel at peace, and relaxed at all times. Its just in the atmosphere here. I love it. 

Now I must go to bed, but I would like to write more on this topic soon. 

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. 

Enjoy. 

A cute picture of two of four of Michael and Dawn’s kids. These are their sons John on the left, and Cole on the right. Their Kids are very polite, and very interesting. I’m envious of their childhoods on a ranch. 

This is the old school house on the property. I wish I knew more about the history of it... Its cool though. 

A cool sign posted outside of the school house

About 1800 head in front. A sight to see. I wish you all could experience it. 

A very nice sunset. Sunlight rims the dark shadowy figures of the thunderheads rolling in. 

Good night.

8/27/11 - 8/28/11

I’ve decided that I’ll only be posting once on weekends, because I have so much other shit I need to accomplish on the weekends, and they’re really not all that exciting...

This one was really fun though. It was sad and boring at times, but the fun times trumped those by far. 

The sadness came when it was time for Kerstein to leave this morning. She has been here for the last 3 months, and has absolutely fallen in love with it. She was heartbroken while leaving today, you could see that she was on the verge of tears the entire time. I can understand why she feels so emotional about the place. Its amazing here, and leaving will be hard. 

However, preceding her departure, on Saturday night, we had a great last night with her.  Everyone on the ranch got invited to some wedding party of some guy the interns dont really know, so Kerstein, Stuart and I had the ranch all to ourselves. This was a weird, but invigorating feeling, having 87,000 acres of land, and you are the only 3 on it. 

It was absolutley beautiful out, the water was warm and the swimming was great. We ended at may camp, where stuart lives, and continued the party. 

We got out his three guns, for which he had just recently purchased a ton of ammo for. He has a Remington 270 long barrel with a scope, a 20 gauge double barrel side by side, and a winchester model 1857 lever action which is is great grandfathers. An absolutely awesome selection of guns, perfect for range scale hunting (and dicking around). You could tell Kerstein was terrified from the very beginning, having never shot a gun before in her life. We started with the 1857 lever action. Set up a beer box with a target drawn on it at about 40 yards, and took aim. When she heard that rifle fire for the first time she screamed and jumped 3 feet in the air. You could just tell she she was thinking “nuh uh, not doing that, never”. I took my shots with the 1857 and nailed them. Actually out shot stuart that round. She was looking so scared, that we told her she should start with the 20 gauge, as it was a smaller kick and less loud. She agreed. She wanted to see someone shoot it first though, so stuart let off a round into the hill. She felt comfortable enough to load herself two rounds, take aim at a PBR can and fire. Her first shot, missed a bit high because she didnt really know how to handle the kick. She was scared and said she didnt want to do it again. We told her that she had to hit that can before she could quit. She aimed, pulled the other trigger and blasted it away on her second shot. Atta girl. Thats when we got the clay pigeons out, and the tosser, and started a bit of trap shooting. Stuart went first and hit 0 out of 6. I went second and hit 5 of 6, which I was feeling pretty good about. We went round two, stuart hit 1 of six and I hit 5 of six again. 10 out of 12 aint bad considering the last time I shot trap was with Mark Thomas in 8th grade. We moved to the scoped 270 after that, sholders sore, and took 3 rounds each with it. Hell of a gun, put all three inside the bullseye from 100 yards, fairly easily. So all in all I shot well, didnt embarrass myself. 

After that we played some drinking games, and BBQ freshly slaughtered steaks on the grill outside may camp. What a beautiful night, warm, while breezy, and thunderstorms rolling in from the west provided a spectacular show for us. After Kerstien went home to have some time alone with the ranch, in her favorite tree, and watch the sunset, her daily evening ritual. Stuart an I kept throwin em back while I taught him how to play my favorite card game ever, cribbage. I fashioned a makeshift board out of card board and q-tips. And we played cribbage, drank, and listened to great music until 2 am. It was a great, great night. 

Other than that, it was a pretty laxed weekend, today I read, wrote some letters, did my laundry, went to the store with cooper, stuart, and rafa. While we were out we picked up ryan, who is here for a week looking at the ranch, because he might apprentice here soon. He is a country boy, who lives for ranching from arkansas. He seems like he knows his shit, and is nice overall. Pretty quiet. 

I’m tired, I have a lot on my mind, so Im going to hit the hay. I dont have any of the pics from our little going away party, they’re all on kersteins camera, ill get them from her soon. I do however have some others I would like to share, so enjoy. 

My good friend Kerstein. Thank you for teach ing me so much about how to successfully integrate into the ranch. You made the transition so easy, you were so friendly and accepting, and I owe you so much gratitude. Thank you as well for all the amazing pictures you took. I’ll always remember you. 

Kerstein and I at the very beginning of the pipeline which we worked ever so hard on. Even though there is a ton of work still to do, kerstein was a master pipe layer and gluer, and helped out tremendously. 

Micheal before a ride a couple days ago, getting control of the wild horse he was riding that day, the control of the horses that he posses is truly stunning. This horse went from kicking and bucking violently, to calm submissive and rideable in a matter of minutes. 

A nice shot by Kerstein of some moving cows. Its louder than you coul imagine, all the mooing, stomping, farting, and pooping. Very intense, and very fun. 

This is a nice rainbow which settled over headquarters the other day after a rain storm. I love the pinkish lighting which remains after storms roll through, its very calming. 

A great shot of Cooper and David Leach. It was great to see David in the flesh after talking on the phone and e mailing him for so long. He is so nice, and pretty much just as I expected him to be. He told me that he comes around Chico about once a month, so that will be great to see him that often. 

Thats it for tonight. Im exhausted, and work starts early tomorrow. 

Goodnight everyone. 

8/26/11

Hello Everyone. 

I just got back from may camp where Cooper. Duke jr, and Stewart live. Since Kerstein is leaving on Sunday, we had a mandatory viewing of one of the most classic American comedies of all time. Dumb and Dumber. We exposed the Germans to the beauty of Harry and Lloyd. They loved it, it was a complete success. Not to mention, I loved it for my 135th time ;)

Today was a good day. I started the day on the trencher, and worked till noon, right when it starts to get hot. I got back to headquarters and rounded up the horses for Duke sr who was taking an important client out on a ride. Then, I went out with Kerstein, and checked fences, water tanks, and irrigation lines. It was good to get the rundown on how these checks go, because it is a main component of my job. That was it for today. Pretty run of the mill. 

Tomorrow is a half day, more trenching and pipe laying, so ill get through that and have a a day and a half to rest. I need it. 

I have some pics from the last few days, as well as some from Kerstein from a while ago. 

Enjoy. 

Another beautiful sunrise looking over the corral while we saddle up. I love the mornings here. So crisp and cool. I find that as the sun rises my energy level does too, like its pumping the life into me. 

This is after the storm we had. Kerstein and I cleaning up all of the downed trees around headquarters. Ill have to tell you more about the epic storm that hit. 

A nice rattler Kerstien found while out in her favorite tree. They’re scary and beautiful at the same time. I’ve for sure gotten my fix though, after my trench digging experience the other day.

One of the smaller herds we wrangled a few days ago. About 300 head. You can only imagine what 1500 head looks like... A whole nother ball game.

And lastly, the sunset while sitting by the lake after a hard days work. I love the feeling of being exhausted after the day, while watching the sunset over the lake. 

Gute Nacht 

(Thanks, Kerstein)

8/25/11

Whew. Today was a long day, but it ended fantastically. 


I spent the entire day out in the desert of dry creek. Its the pasture where I first started working the trencher and laying pipe. There were some spots in the trencher where it wasn't quite deep enough, so I had to get in there and dig it out. This is because if the pipe is too close to the surface, it will freeze in the winter time, so it needs to be at least 36 inches deep. The first problem that I encountered was that in the desert, a 3 mile long 5 foot deep trench basically acts as a rattlesnake trap, because they slither into it, and cannot get out. I saw 10 rattlesnakes today. and a few of them crept up on me while I was in the trench digging. Let it be known that i was 5 miles from anybody and in the middle of the desert with only a half a bottle of water left. Probably not the best situation to be in. 


Anyways, I got the work done, digging from 7 am till 12pm, when I was cruising in the sawed off and pop goes my front left tire. Damn. So i got out, and saw that there was a spare in the bed, and thought, 'all right, I get to fix this one on my own and get the hell out of here..' turns out there was no jack and no tools to fix it. I ended up pulling a tarp out of the back, draping it over the roll cage for sun shelter, and waiting for someone to rescue me due to the fact I dint have any phone reception. I waited for three hours until I suddenly heard my phone blowing up with texts and voicemails. Service at last. So i picked it up and started calling every Chico number I had. I didnt get through to anybody, and continued to wait. about a half hour later Cooper called and told me that he was on his way. when he got there with the tools to fix it, he said, "you done good boy". He meant that it was a good idea not to start hiking back in the 95 degree heat with no water left, and that waiting for help was the right call. His confirmation felt great. we ended up fixing the tire, and I dug for a little while longer until it was quittin time. my only motivation being the BBQ with all the people from the workshop back at headquarters. 


I got home, completely exhausted, but caught a second when I saw burgers on the grill and cold beer in the cooler. While preparing for the BBQ, I encountered a very pleasant surprise. It turns out that David Leach, a great family friend who actually connected me with this job was attending the workshop today. Cooper was walking over with him while I was burning some trash, and I immediately recognized him. He walked on over to me and re-introduced himself (I know him from a very long time ago). I was so great to finally see him and get a chance to catch up with him. we spent some great time together at the BBQ. He is such a nice guy. 


We had an awesome time at the BBQ. I talked with Michael, the ranch manager about what they learned at the workshop, which was very interesting. They learned about managing and monitoring different ecological systems on the ranch. I wish I could have been in on that, but I felt it was a bit to early to be asking for a spot, when there were only a limited number. I was cruising the crowd when I saw a girl emerge from a white jeep. She immediately went over to Duke Sr. and gave him a hug and started talking with him. I could just tell that this was Julie, his daughter. I have heard a lot about her, and waltzed on over to introduce myself. She turned out to be awesome girl, very easy to talk to, very nice, and very pretty. 


We finished up dinner, and us interns were hanging out talking with Coop, when Julie and David walk over to us asking if we wanted to wrangle the horses and take an night time bare back ride. We all agreed that we would hop in the old Dodge and go grab the horses for a ride. So we did. 


It was completely dark, and we were all in the back of the pick up trying to guide Rafa to the horses when we stumbled upon a large group of them in the pasture. We hooped out, and started to coerce them our way. I saw a nice white one with brown spots named Buckshot, so I slowly creeped closer to him, whistling softly. He stayed right where he was, and graciously let me slip a bridle onto him. I got the bridle on him and hopped up on his back from the ground. I was one of the first ones to successfully get on a horse. I started walking him towards the other and heard "Ahhh you got Buckshot!? Thats my horse!" it was Julie walking up behind us on another horse. I told her that she should take him, it is her horse, and hopped off him before she could say anything. She hopped off hers and we traded rides. 


We rode around for a while trying to gather up some more horses, but they got spooked, and ran off before everyone could get one. So we took turns for a while riding the three that we had wrangled. It ended up being a ton of fun. Although, riding a horse bareback in the pitch black with only starlight to guide you is a bit nerve-wracking. 


We let the horses go, and returned to headquarters to hang out for a bit. We wrapped up the night with a few more beers, and went our separate ways. What a great ending to a not so good day. I love it when that happens.


Its late, almost 11, and Im too tired to post pictures, so they will have to wait. Tomorrow is another day, and Im looking forward to it. Cooper said we get a break from piping tomorrow, so thats awesome. 


Goodnight everyone. 

8/24/11

Today was another exhausting day. We went out to the south pasture and wrangled about 500 head. We only moved them one pasture over, but they were pairs, so they were a complete handful. Pairs is a term to describe a herd which consists of moms, calfs, and a few bulls to keep everyone in line. Understandably, the mothers want to be with their calfs (with in 50 feet of them), and the calfs freak out when they lose their mothers and vice versa. The drive was going really well in the beginning, until the pairs started to become separated. When a calf gets separated from its mother, it tends to want to instinctively go back to the place which it last saw its mother, which in this case was about two miles behind our destination gate. We were only about a half a mile from the gate when the calf started to hang back looking for their mothers. The calfs slowly built up, until they felt enough confidence in their numbers to make a run for it. Calfs are really fast and take a ton of effort to wrangle, so as a result we tacked on another two hours of our ride just getting them back. They get frightened really easily and take off in all directions, making it tough to get them all back together. 

The upside to this however, was that I got to take brutus into a full run for the first time. I estimate that to be about 30-35 mph. We were hauling ass to say the least. It was so fun. I feel so comfortable and stable on brutus, and he rarely trips or falters. Great horse. I know we will have a long and fulfilling future together here on the ranch. 

After that ordeal brutus was really tired and refused to even trot, no matter how hard I kicked him or whipped him. This ended up being a good thing, because Kerstein and I got put on post up duty while the other three went to fetch some stragglers. It was some real good bonding time for brutus and I, standing there in the 94 degree heat for an hour. I gave him half my carrot. 

After that, you can probably guess what I did. Laid some pipe baby. We got home around 1:30, I ate lunch, and went directly to the pipeline. Stewart was nice enough to keep chugging on the trencher, while Kerstein, Aden, and I went and picked up another flat of pipe, laid it, and glued it. 

Today Michael taught me a ton about how to manage cattle while wrangling. I learned the “triangle method” which is a method to get the herd moving when they decide to stop. You ride with them at an angle going away from the herd, then cut back toward the herd and move against their trailing direction while moving at an angle into them. This head on and into direction makes them move quicker in the direction you want. Its a bit counter intuitive, moving in the direction their not, makes them move faster in the direction you want. I also learned how to make a round-a-bout loop around a fleeting calf to pressure it to stop, and then slowly creep toward it, applying pressure to make it return to the herd. I learned how to perform a sitting trot and a posting trot, which are two different ways to move with the horse in the saddle while trotting. I find posting to be  more fun and a bit more comfortable on brutus, because his trot is somewhat violent compared to the other horses. This is due to his long stride and less fluid trot. His gallop however, is sooo comfortable. If I get the chance ill gallop him for sure because its faster, more fun, and much more comfortable, but it tires him out much faster. Speaking of which, I also learned how to distribute the horses energy throughout a ride. The longer the ride, the less aggressive riding tactics, because faster movements tire out the horse quicker, and they will tend to become less responsive to kicks, whips, and giddy-ups. 

It was a great day, a ton of fun running fast in the pasture chasing stray calfs. Even though riding hard like that is extremely wearing on the body, the adrenaline rushes keep you going. Tomorrow should be a bit more relaxed, as were not riding and I get an extra hour of sleep. We have a group of workshop students coming in to learn about native prairie grasses, and we are throwing a bbq for them tomorrow night which should be fun. I never knew we do plant workshops like these here on the ranch, and am going to ask if I can get in on all up coming ones. 

Bed time my friends. Here are the pictures from the day. Enjoy. 

The boots, all lined up ready to go for a long day of riding. 

Stewart and I stretching out our sore bodies, getting prepared for our third day in a row. 

Facing off with some frightened calfs. Gotta learn how to babysit these pups while their moms are no where to be found! As you can tell, they find safety in numbers. 

Chillen out with Kerstein and Brutus. Posing up, watching for stragglers while the others round em up. 

A great shot of Brutus and I. Just hangin out, eating some carrots. Thanks Kerstein.

Brutus up close.

Brutus up closer.

Basically in Brutus’s mouth. Nice teeth dude.