It’s been a while since I last posted because my camera still isn’t working. I know now though that it’s just the memory card on the camera, not the reader in my computer.
Last weekend though, my mom came and visited me on the ranch. It was a blast and she took some great pictures.
We have been up to some very intensive cattle work these last weeks, and she got tossed right in the thick of it. I think she had a great time, she sure got the entire ranching experience while she visited.
Ill just post the pictures and caption them.
Pulled up on Brutae when mom first arrived. We had just drove in about 800 head into headquarters, which was cool for her first sight of me.
Working a gate while we weaned the calfs from their mothers. It was a bit sad to see the calfs getting separated from their moms, but they got over it. After about 2 days the calf's crying stopped.
A really cute calf with a perfect heart on his forehead.
On Saturday, for our half day, mom and I built electric gates over one of the new watertanks we built. Since a fence bisects the tank, I had to get in and tie the loop.
Mama was an awesome helper while building the gates. She was great about getting in and trying stuff, even building scary electric fences and learning how to use the cutting torch.
A great picture of the outhouse at the schoolhouse. Nice composition mom.
Cowboy up.
Mom at the schoolhouse halfway through our ride.
Running Bruzer around the schoolhouse.
Mom on a horse!!! She did awesome. I pushed her a bit to get her going, and once we adjusted her stirrups, she became much more confident and comfortable.
Riding through an awesome arroyo I know of in the schoolhouse pasture.
Feeding the sheep.
The Vet came to help us pregnancy check the heifers. Thats her using the ultrasound.
You know.
Mama and I. What an awesome weekend.
We really had a great weekend. I love you mom, and I had so much fun with you. Thank you for all you do for me.
And to the ri lo and pops, I can't wait for Christmas to see you. I miss you both very much.
Everything at the ranch is going really great. We have been riding more than ever, doing a lot of sorting of cattle, moving cattle, and spreading them into pastures for the winter.
I've been switching up my horse game a bit because I've been in need of a faster, more agile horse for sorting cattle. Sorry Bruzer, you can haul ass, but it takes you a bit to get there.
Cocaine however, has been a great horse for me. Will take off in a full sprint and catch mostly anything. Sometimes, he will take off when i dont tell him too, but the adrenaline rush is nice.
So the ranch has been hopping, we have been really busy. So much to do before the cold hits.
I'm still loving it here. Seriously. I have so much damn fun here every day. Life is truly great.
We poured the last one yesterday. It put up a fight though. Two of the three cement trucks got stuck on there way out to the tank, the concrete dried really fast, the sand was hard to work with, and some of the drivers were hard to deal with.
But we got it done and thats all that matters. Just have some loose ends to wrap up.
Now, we can start the fun stuff again. (not that building water tanks wasn’t a blast...)
It was a pretty bland week folks. Just building and pouring tanks.
Oh, and no pictures because I can’t get them off my camera. My memory card cant be read by my computer. I dont know if it’s the computer or the card, Ill have to find out.
I have some good ones too...
So until I can get that figured out, Ill be pictureless.
Its been the longest gap between entries so far, so I’ve got some catching up to do.
The reason I havent posted in a while is because this week has been literally the most tired I’ve been since being here. I’ll get done with work around 7 each night, and literally only have enough energy to eat some dinner, and maybe get in the shower. Blog entries were on my mind, but I always passed out before I could pick up my computer.
Anyways, Ill give you a recap on the last week. Ill try to keep it brief, Because I could go on and on about all the stuff I’ve been up to.
I’ll start with last weekend. Cooper, Stuart, and I went into Boulder to hit a concert. It was The Wood Brothers, Here is some of their music...
It was absolutely awesome, the venue was the Fox Theatre, a very historic venue in Boulder. Allen, one of the ranchers here at the Chico, saw the Dave Mathews Band there in 1994. Isn’t that awesome?
The concert was fantastic. The music was great, I got to schmooze some ladies for the first time in a long while, and 3 for 2 PBR deals rock.
After the concert we went to Denver to Stuart’s cousin Ben’s house. It was really nice of him to let us crash there, and his house was really nice.
We woke up the next morning for our fly fishing trip we had planned for Sunday. Cooper took off, as he had to go get some work done on the ranch. Ben, Stuart, and I took off for “the magic mile”, a fishing spot up in the rockies. I’m not sure exactly where It was, but it was in this beautiful basin, tucked in between MASSIVE peaks. Unfortunately I forgot my camera on that trip, it would have been great to get pics of the concert and the fishing trip.
I ended up catching 7 very nice sized trout that day, so my first fly fishing experience on a river went exceedingly well. I had a ton of fun with Stuart, Ben, and Stuart’s uncle Grant.
We cruised home after fishing, exhausted, not so much looking forward to work the next day.
I thought I was going to be building water tanks on Monday, like I had been doing for the past week, but Monday ended up being a great day.
Michael, Allen and I saddled up and rode out to the chrome white to gather a herd of around 85 bulls from the pasture. Our mission was to prepare them to be shipped out in the next few days.
We got the bulls and rode them back to our corral here at headquarters. We then proceeded to cut out the old bulls who weren’t getting sold, and then to cut out the smaller, more feminine looking bulls out, which we would turn into steers.
The next job was to take the bulls which we deemed unfit for sale, and band them. Banding is when you use a this ratchet tool with a surgical band loaded into it, and tighten the rubber band around the bulls testicles. You tighten a metal clamp when the band is tight enough, and cut off the excess rubber. This rubber band constricts blood flow to the balls, and they eventually fall off. This transforms the bull into a steer. We will eventually just sell these steers for meat, or eat them ourselves.
This whole process takes place in a series of small corrals, the race and the chute. I dont have pictures of the corrals, but the race and chute look like this. The race is red and the chute is yellow.
They are meant to hold the animal in place to be able to preform any number of jobs.
The next job was to get the rest of the 80 bulls loaded one at a time into the chute, and de-horn them. De-horning is the act of lopping off the tips of the bulls horns, making them blunt, so they don’t maul each other while being transported. Also, so they cant gore people as badly if it does happen.
My job in this whole process was to cut 10-15 bulls out of the herd at a time, and take them from the large corral they were all in, to a smaller corral which feeds into the race which feeds the chute. I did this all on foot, right down there with all the bulls. Talk about intense.
Being in the smallest corral which feeds the chute with ten extremely pissed off animals who weigh a little under a ton is honestly, a bit scary. Not to mention, my job is to smack them on the ass with a stick to get them into the rush which feeds the chute. These animals are all so very reluctant to load into this chute, coaxing them in is no easy task. A couple of them got really pissed off, and gave me a nice charge. To evade them, you do like in the rodeo, run really fast at the fence and hop up on it, trying to get your legs out of the way of their horns. God damn, what an adrenaline rush. It was so much fun.
We got all the bulls fixed up, and put them back in a holding pen, waiting to be shipped out. A very successful day, and a job well done according to Michael.
I didn’t take any pictures of this either, not because I didn’t think to, but because as I was participating in it, I realized its not the most glamourous part of our job. Not really something to showcase. Lots of blood.
So I got one day of really exciting work at the beginning of the week, but the rest of the week consisted mainly of building the water tanks which are at the end points of all the dam pipe we have been laying for the last months. They are about 40 feet in diameter and made of corrugated 1/8” galvanized steel. Heavy sons of bitches.
Tuesday through Friday were filled with building and leveling tanks and float chambers. We use a transect to get everything level to within a quarter of an inch. It takes pretty much an entire day to build and level a tank and float chamber. We built 6 of them.
Not much to talk about there, pretty monotonous stuff. I’ll get some pictures of a completed tank so you can understand what they look like.
Other than that, been checking a fair amount of electric fence, wrangling the horses every morning, and all sorts of general upkeep stuff as well.
Yesterday was a great day though. We typically don’t ride on Saturdays, but yesterday we did. We moved about 2000 yearlings from the homes into the south wolf. The ride went great. Brutae performed exceedingly well, he is really getting used to the spurs, and is still being really responsive to my commands.
We gathered the pasture and got them moving in the right direction, pushed them into the south wolf, and our half day Saturday was done before I knew it. Great day.
Last night we hung out at may camp, with Cooper and Stuart. Stuart cooked bomb enchiladas for all of us, and we just chilled out, read, ate, and shot the shit. At around 9 o’clock, Tullar showed up to hang out. Tullar and I ended up sitting on the porch of may camp talking with one of our guests until midnight. We sat there trading hunting stories (of which I dont have any) and drinkin whiskey, mostly listening to our guest re-live his most glorious hunting moments.
After that, tullar and I went back to his house and hung out tilll about 130. It was real fun just chillen with him, he is an awesome guy, he knows so much about everything, there’s never a dull moment.
Now I’m sitting here in the bunkhouse, with my new roomie. His name is Nick, he is the new apprentice here on the ranch. He actually went to Miramonte high school, one of my biggest rival schools. He grew up in el sobrante, about 20 minutes away from where I grew up. He is a cool kid, seems like he will be really easy to live with too. I really liked living alone, but I do have to say, its nice having someone to chat with.
It’s been a week since I posted last. I knew I couldn’t keep up with it every night. But, I think I am going to start posting every couple of days from now on. Now that I’m in the thick of it, a lot of my time consists of more menial jobs which I have probably already explained to you. So I think ill tell you about the cool things that happen every couple of days.
I have to get better about carrying my camera with me at all times too, I find myself wanting to take pictures of cool stuff all the time, but not having my camera.
Just as a broad statement, I would like to tell everyone that I’m still loving this place even more ever single day I’m here. Every single day is a new adventure. I’m constantly thinking, problem solving, working hard with my friends, laughing, and absolutely loving life. I really cant put into words how much I love being here. Its more than I could have ever expected.
Here are some pictures for yall... Hope you enjoy them
I spent the day with Cooper, building and fixing electric fence.
Electric fencing plays a huge role in what we do. It can act as both permanent and temporary fence which holds cattle from breaking into pastures they’re not supposed to.
One of the most consistent jobs I will hold here is checking the charge of all sorts of electric fences. Its a very important job, as the cattle need to stay in their designated pastures.
So, Cooper spent the day with me reviewing the basics of electric fence management, both checking it and building it.
It was fun, I like it a lot. I’m sure it will be something which I absolutely master throughout my stay here. Rafa was really good at it, and told me it just takes practice (like everything).
We spent the entire day running through it, and I believe I have a good handle on it. Now, just need to practice.
On Friday, I rode Brutae all day. By mid-day, he was becoming very unresponsive to my commands, and I was having to work really hard to get him to do what I told him. Little Duke recommended I ride him with spurs next time.
So, yesterday I did. What a huge difference. It was like he was a whole new horse. Really though, He had so much more “giddy-up” than before. He was much more responsive to my commands, and much more spry.
The only thing was, the spurs I rode with didnt fit me at all, way too small. There was however, another pair of new ones which Little Duke told me I could use, but they didn’t have any bootstraps.
So, tonight I made some. I think they came out really well.
Take a look at my brand new pair of spurs...
I’m really stoked on them. Cant wait to ride with them.
I just got done making them, and I need to shower and go to bed, but I thought I’d share them with you.
I had a great ride on Friday, and a great weekend to follow.
Friday’s ride started really well. We gathered the pasture, and pushed the herd into the corral. It’s the time of year when were separating out the bulls to weigh them and sell them. So, when we got the herd into the corral, about 200 animals, we started cutting the bulls away.
This was something I had never done before, which ended up to be quite a thrill. It takes experience to know how much pressure to put on the animal and where to put it to make it cooperate with your demands. I enjoyed just watching michael, allen, rafa, Jonathan, and duke jr at work. It’s amazing how well coordinated they are, really without saying a word at all.
We successfully got all the bulls separated from the cows. I helped out I think, didnt get in the way, and cut some out myself.
After that we split up, Rafa, Allen, and myself went all the way out to the carpenter to wrangle up 15 more bulls which were wandering somewhere in the massive pasture. Our job was to bring them back to the corral, join them up with the rest of the 85 bulls we had separated,, and drive them to a pasture called the chrome white.
We found the bulls in the carpenter, they were on the far side, laying in the creek bed in the shade.
They were huge. I mean massive. Allen said he estimated the biggest to be about a ton.
They moved so slow. Theres no pushing these guys to go any faster either. They go at their own pace, and theres really nothing you’re gonna do to change that. But finally, around 2 o’clock, we got them into the corral, and joined up with the others.
We started out towards the chrome white. About a quarter of the way there, we rounded a fence corner with exactly 100 bulls. At that fence corner, about 20 heifers were crammed into a group. When we passed, they got really excited. So excited that they decided to break through the fence and join us.
This was the first mishap of the afternoon. We had to stop the move, and cut out the heifers. This is really tough to do while in the middle of an open pasture. With no barriers to keep the herd together, they tend to get all cut up and splayed out.
We cut out 5 heifers and thought we got all of them, later we would find out that we didn’t. Allen went back to put them in and fix the fence while rafa and I continued toward the chrome white with the heard of 102 animals. Allen ended up cutting himself real bad on the fence.
He rejoined with us, and we continued the drive. When we arrived at the gate, we encountered our next obstacle. In the very corner of the pasture, we had trenched, and the trench was blocking our way to the gate. We had basically cut off the corner of the pasture with the trench, and the gate was on the other side. Damn.
About 3/4 of the bulls figured they could jump the trench and got through the gate just fine. The remaining 25 however, just didnt have the balls to jump over. We waited and tried to push them over for about 30 minutes. After that we decided to just cut the fence on our side of the trench and let them in through the opening. Great idea, but one, one, bull decided that he just wasnt going to go through.
He was a huge white and brown bull who was lame, and really really pissed off. He had just been taken on a 5 mile trek with a hurt leg and he just wasnt having any more of it. We tried for a solid hour and a half to get those animals through the fence, and it was apparent this one just wasnt gonna go. I started to patch up the fence we had cut while rafa and allen led him all the way back to may camp where there was a gate we could let him through. They got him in. Yes.
We trotted back to headquarters after that, completing our ride at 5:30. And 11 hour ride.
It was a fun, challenging, sometimes frustrating ride. One of my favorites so far. Brutus rode really well as well. Except when we were cutting the bulls as well as when we were trying to pus them over the trench, he is not as agile as I would like. He cant make quick starts stops and turns too well, and in that situation, it is totally necessary to be able to. The bulls were moving quickly and suddenly, you needed to be able to react to that, countering their moves in split seconds. Brutae is just a bit too big for that. I’m not complaining about him, just the wrong riding situation for him. Its like me trying to be a running back. Its just not gonna work.
Anyways, I went into town that Friday night, got groceries, so I wouldn’t have to do it on Sunday.
Saturday I cleaned up around headquarters until about 1. Thats it.
Kinda just hung out after work until we went over to may camp for rafa’s going away party at 4.
It was great, he had no idea we were throwing it for him. His first hit was seeing the freshly skinned goat that cooper had bought. He was asking all sorts of questions about why we had so much food and beer. We finally broke it to him that everyone was coming over for a going away bash. He was so stoked.
Jonathan arrived, and with him so did his guns. We ended up shooting his frickin awesome AR-15, and his .45. It was so much fun. The holographic site he has on that thing is soooo sick.
We had such a great time at the party. Cooked up the goat which was absolutely delicious, drank, sang songs, danced, and just had a blast. It was so fun, I wish I had taken some pictures.
I woke up to a phone call from Jim letting me know they were at the front gate. I quickly got dressed, and went out to hop on the dirtbike to meet them, but they were already in the parking lot when I came out of the bunkhouse! It was awesome, they just made it out to headquarters all on their own.
It was so awesome to see everyone. Ingrid, Kimo, Kelly, Jim, Brooke, and jim’s too dogs. What an awesome family they are.
I gave them a quick tour of headquarters then we headed over to may camp to shoot some trap.
We shot all sorts of guns. 12 gauges, 20 gauges, a 22, a .45 handgun, and a 270. We were lighting everything up. All of our targets absolutely mangled. Everyone shot too, it was awesome. Great to see little 100 lb kelly blast that big ol 270. What a badass girl she is. Jim’s a badass too, I can see why they really love each other, it seems like they’re prefect for one another.
We headed back to headquarters. I wrangled up the horses and we rode bareback to the lake. It was nice, some of the horses were in a lazy Sunday mood though, didn’t want to go too fast, or even at all.
They took off after we got back, as everyone had a real big day tomorrow.
What an awesome day. It was soo great to see family and get big old loving hugs from the ones you love. It really does a body good. Thank you for coming out to see me you guys, It really meant a lot to me that you did that. I love you all.
After that I just hung out and read for the remainder of the evening. A really relaxing great day.
I have some pictures from the last couple days, and once I get the pics from today, I’ll post’em.
Work tomorrow, I’m tired, so for now, enjoy, and goodnight to all.
I was on horseback for 10 hours, and did some crazy stuff.
However, after riding, went straight into the middle of Rafa's 72 hour perpetual goodbye party. Its been an evening of drinking and music and fun, and I'm too tired to write.
I'll take my half day tomorrow to tell you all about the ride. It was awesommmmme.
