My Montana - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

A Good Winter Day Sorting Cows

February 27, 2017 by Allison

Last week sorted cows in Locomotive. Scratch that… It was actually like SEVERAL weeks ago that we sorted. In fact, its been long enough ago that we sorted, that the snow has melted and we have mixed the cows back up. I had a twinge of hurt when they mixed up the cows again. Because I feel that we just did the work of getting them unmixed up… Oh the work we do…

That day of sorting had a lot of emotions running through it. There were those overwhelming feelings of just being totally exhausted from the added work with dealing with the snow. There was the tension of not knowing how the day was going to go, if it was going to go at all. Then there was the final relief and thankfulness of finally getting the work done.

You can imagine we slept well that night.

I’ll admit, I had my own doubts about how the day was going to go down. They had never had to sort all those cows there. They never had so much snow to work the cows in. I was afraid for the worst- cows not cooperating, horses slipping on the ice, and cowboys coming home hurt and discouraged.

That is always my fear. Because I have seen it.

When I was a little girl, I saw the hard days that my dad had. There was the day that he couldn’t take his own boots off because of the 4wheeler accident. There were the days that he came in exhausted from no sleep trying to keep calves alive in the cold. There were the days he couldn’t keep the equipment running to get the hay done before the storms rolled through.

But there is one day that comes to mind above all the rest as being hard for my ranching dad.

It had been a long winter. The calving was over and breeding season was in full swing. Doing the spring work in the still winter conditions was getting long and tiresome. Eventually there was a break and the thaw finally came. It only took a few days for things to change. The frost thawed, the ground dried and suddenly it was hard again.

He was bringing in a heifer to AI. He saddled up his horse and headed out as he did every time. Now let me tell you a little about his horse. She had a long, long ugly nose. And that was about the only bad thing about her. Ok, not really… everyone horse has her issues. But this girl was good. She could cut a cow as good as any other. Once she knew what cow she was bringing in, you just let her do the work. She could drop her back end and change directions in a second. If you didn’t hang on she would move right out from under you (and I know that from personal experience!). She loved the work and worked hard.

The heifer my dad and his partner were bringing in was a little feisty. No surprise and really, no big deal. And for my dad, it was even a little fun. Like most cowboys, he enjoyed the rush of the ride. But then the heifer cut back and Whitney, his horse, went to spin. And then she went down.

In those couple of days that the weather changed, my dad was busy. Are you surprised? He is a rancher, they are always busy. Busy enough that he hadn’t had a chance to take of the cleats on his horse.

When she turned back, those cleats dug into the ground, and she spun, but her leg didn’t. And it broke.

My dad knew instantly that it was bad. So bad. He was right.

He called the vet and he was able to come in and help Whitney. They were able to set and cast the broken leg. But she would never chase a cow again. It was devastating.

My dad says that every cowboy gets one good horse and one good dog. She was his.

Ya know, despite the great days we have on the ranch and in this life, there are some really hard days. We take risks. We work in sometimes dangerous conditions. We work with animals that can do a lot of damage. And when those bad days come we just have to take it in stride.

My dad couldn’t put his partner down that day. He just couldn’t lose her. She meant to much for him. So he decided to turn her into a brood mare. Now her babies are on the ranch, doing the same work their momma did.

Thankfully, our day sorting on the range had a good ending. A great ending. The work went well and the cowboys came home safe. Not everyday turns out so well and we are grateful for the good days. Its the good days that keep us going when we have those hard days.

Monday Musing and Frosty Pictures

February 13, 2017 by Allison

Mondays are for musings. You look back over the weekend or figure out what’s happening ahead in the week. You plan. You schedule. Sometimes you give yourself a pep talk. But it all happens on Mondays.

So here I am musing.

We went to Montana to visit my parents over the weekend. It was refreshing and exhausting all at the same time. My mom works for a small k-8 school and they had their ski day, so we trekked up there late Thursday night to join in the fun. We had the whole spectrum of weather that day- icy rain, sleet, massive flakes, blue sky and fog. There was a point we decided to bite the bullet and invest in some goggles for everyone and that was the turning point of the day. Its amazing how much more fun skiing is when you can see and your eyes aren’t being pelted with ice!

There were high school boys and girls basketball games going on while we were there so we spent Saturday night cheering on the Drummond Trojans. It may have been the third game I have gone to watch since graduating 11 years ago. It was like I never left but at the same time I felt so old. There were kids playing ball that weren’t even in kindergarten when I was in high school!. I only knew 2 of the kids on the boys team. Yikes… I am getting old… But at the same time, I still call my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Verlanic and my science teacher Mr. Schindler so I guess I don’t feel all too old.

Remember how I married a cowboy that doesn’t talk? That made for a super long drive home. It really was the fastest we have ever made the drive (we didn’t speed, just didn’t have to stop 12 times for the kids…) but it seemed so long. He seriously said only a handful of words. Anybody want to come hang out with me so I can have someone to talk to?

And to make the drive last even longer, my kids are to the stage that they ask the dreaded question- “are we there yet?”/”how long until we are there?!”/”how much longer?” And I think that they eat more when we are in the car than the entire week before. I can never pack enough treats. I’m afraid its only going to get worse when my son becomes a teenager… Yikes!

Its Valentines this week… Yay… Actually, for the first time in a long time I will actually get to see my valentine. Really I should only say I SHOULD get to see my valentine. We might sneak in a kiss or two between taking care of the kids and cows, but who needs February 14 to say I love you when there are 364 other days, right? I’m sure a batch of his favorite cookie dough and an early bed time will make for just the V-day he wants!

So I posted last week about how we were buried to our eye balls with snow. And then just like that the snow shut off and the sun came out and everything has started to melt! Its not gone or even close to being gone by ANY means, but there is significantly less. Its like Mother Nature is trying to discredit me. I say its crazy and snowy and she brings out the sunshine. If I said it was a beautiful-blue-sky-kinda-day, I’m sure we would get socked in with the fog for days… So I’m going to post the last of my snowy pictures and hope that the temps stay up. The heifer hill is slowly drying out to calve on so its helping The Rancher, right?

Speaking of calving… We had 1. Soon enough we will be swamped with babies and I am so excited! Last year I was too busy swooning over my own new babe that I didn’t soak in the babies outside as much so this year I will have to make up for it. But the fact that we are calving does mean my baby is almost a year old and I just can’t believe it. I’m crying inside. It just happens too fast!

Have I mused enough for you? There is still plenty going on up here, but I will stop for your sakes. I’ll just muse to myself…

Happy Monday!
The RW

Christmas Sledding, Mackay Style

January 16, 2017 by Allison

Its winter here. Full blown winter. It has been cold. Not as cold as some places, but there is a point that cold is just cold. But its not just the cold that has us knee deep in winter, its the snow. SO MUCH SNOW! Like, now that it has settled and been rained on, we are down to about 2 feet.

Yep. Full blown winter.
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Click “Read More” for the rest of the story!

But that’s mostly ok because we really need the moisture and this is the slow time of year anyway. So except for the super, SUPER cold days, we are loving winter. The Rancher takes every chance to go coyote and bunny hunting, snowmobiling, and the kids and I pull out the tubes and sleds every chance we get. We have had snowball fights and built snowmen. We have made snow forts and even had a herd of snow angels until they were snowed on again.

Its been lots of fun. Most of the time I’m too busy being the mom immersed in the fun to take a step back to take any pictures (which I need to do for posterity’s sake) but I do have some awesome stories and pictures from sledding over Christmas break while we were in Montana with the cousins.

Even though the temperatures were hovering just about zero (when you were OUT of the wind) we thought we would pull out the sleds and four wheeler and have a go. Because it had been so cold, the snow was really fine and powdery, even though it was nearing a foot deep. That meant snow was flying everywhere! Spraying in our faces, going down coats and shirts. So cold! Most of the littles only lasted a few minutes outside, and I don’t blame them. At the end there was only a handful of the big kids and then the even bigger kids, aka- the parents!

And that’s when one of my brother’s had the idea to build a jump. He’s an engineer so of course he figured out the math to make it a pretty awesome jump. He figured the perfect spot on the downhill side, coming off the corner so that we would have the most momentum swinging around as we hit the jump. After just a few runs I had to grab the camera to settle in to catch it all. But that might have gotten me in a little trouble when the mom’s looked at just exactly what we were doing!

Have a look!

The super fine powder was everywhere when they would fly through the snow. And I’ll admit, I got a little excited with it being backlit…

These kids would FLY through the air when they hit the jump! Their feet would be above their heads as they sailed above the fence. It was a pretty crazy site.

When I took a turn on the tube, my sister grabbed the camera and caught a few of me and my brother. We went as hard and as fast as we could and didn’t come off. But to save ourselves we had to let go so we didn’t run into the parked car at the bottom of the hill!

You can’t really tell, but this is my brother and his son. They were riding side by side, but about this time, my brother ended up on top of his boy and then….

… they landed the jump like this! It sorta looks like a bomb went off here… So cool!

I still stand by what I’ve said so many times in the past, ranchers are boys that just couldn’t stop playing… Now they have bigger toys and even more fun!

Loving the Open Range

February 27, 2015 by Allison

I’m a Montana girl. The small ranching town I grew up in was just a little valley, cross crossed with streams and rivers. Something very VERY different from where we are ranching now. Everything was green. All the time. That may be exaggeration, but really I remember that there was so much green-ness. So many meadows, so many hay fields. There were little groves of trees everywhere. Really so much green! And then there were the skies. I love the fresh and blue open skies. The clear mornings that renew each morning with a new sunrise. The sunsets were made with cord that illustrated that God truly is an artist. And the clarity of the nighttime sky allowed you to see even the most distant stars. Whenever I go home I just drink it all in.

Here we have a few trees. Unless you count the sage brush, which some if them are big enough you could consider them to be trees. Actually, I love the safe brush. The smells that come from when you move cows through them or when it’s raining.

It’s this lifestyle that let’s me have those open skies, the green-ness, and the fresh air.

It’s amazing to me how we can be all a part of the same industry but do it so differently. We can raise cattle in this errid, dry dessert just as well as my family did in the fertile river plains. Just very differently. Very differently.

Sometimes the differences get me a little homesick for the way we did things. You may take the girl out of Montana, but you can never take Montana out of the girl. So the days when we go out on the wide open range it satisfies the little Montana girl inside of me. Like last week when we dropped the cows off to Locomotive. It was that time of year to haul the cows down south. The kids and I hopped on the semi with The Rancher for a day out. We were only there for the few minutes to unload but they were wonderful moments.

Although some of the open range is a little bland, the skies can be amazing. You can see for miles with the beautiful blue mountains in the back grounds and the dazzling blue colors. The open skies and fresh air take me back to my big sky country. I guess where ever you are, you find little bits of home.

Cutting Cowboys

November 11, 2014 by Allison

I married a cowboy, a roping cowboy. And I’m down with that. Actually, I love that. Its what I wanted. But its definitely the type of cowboys (they were more ranchers than cowboy if you get down to it) I grew up with. The rancher’s from my roots were more cattlemen than horsemen. My dad, however, did a lot of riding. He had this mare that was his partner in crime for years. She did her best work when she was cutting a cow. Once she knew what she was bringing in she was locked on. She had an incredible drive and hustle… so intense.

I fell in love with cutting watching and riding this mare. I learned a lot from her- mostly to hunker down in my saddle and lean back to free up her front to move fast and easy. But really, just to hold on…

The boys around here do a lot of roping, and although I love watching them roping and I am highly impressed by their skill, I get really excited to watch them cut. (I get even more excited when I get to do it!) After preg checking all of the cows, they have a pen full of buggers that are being sent home and need to be sorted according to each rancher. This is one of the highlights of the day for me. Those cows are tired and ornery and put up a good, GOOD fight. And that means that the horses put on a good show! I love to watch them put all their weight on their back legs and spin their front around to follow a cow and then launch forward in a totally new direction. Its so smooth and explosive all at the same time. Then there are the times that they have to take off to cut off some cow and have to make a quick, hard stop at an instant. Its pure athleticism. Can you see how I love it?!

Unfortunately, I was busy cleaning up during the majority of the sorting. These darn boys still need to learn how to work around my schedule… But I did catch the tail end of cutting cowboys.

Hometown Buck-a-Rama

September 26, 2014 by Allison

If I had known all of the crazy things that September would bring I don’t know that I would have believed it. My calendar at the end of the month looks nothing like what I had in mind at the beginning of the month. But that’s ok… In the midst of all the craziness I had some awesome family time, a fun trip to Montana with my sister (she lives in New York… like, the polar opposite of my world. Crazy that two sisters that are best friends could live completely different lives… LOVE IT!!) and a chance to go back to my roots.

The weekend that I was home to Montana just happened to be the weekend that the American Legion was holding an event to raise money for the fair grounds. Funny that until now I hadn’t realized who was responsible for the fairgrounds there. Where is the fair board, you ask? There isn’t one. Our county doesn’t actually hold a county fair. Instead they team up with a couple neighboring counties to put on a Tri-County fair in Deer Lodge. Looky there… Learned something new, didn’t ya!

So no fair board, no money from the county, and therefore in need of some creative fundraising.

The highlight of the day was a rough stock buck-out featuring the bulls of a local rough stock contractors, Rod and Bonnie Conat and Steven Graveley. They may not be PBR material just yet but that very well may be where they are heading. Some of these bulls were young and inexperienced, but they certainly have potential. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any old seasoned bulls that knew how to put on a show. I was thoroughly entertained!

I did have one small complaint, and you will see it here in a minute. They had hauled in a bunch of panels to make a much smaller ring to buck in. Smart, right? They won’t have to chase bulls all day to move on to the next one. But they forgot to think of the lady sitting in the stands with two tired kids crawling on her lap while she tried to take pictures. So that means that in between you and the action will be some panels and what not. Just pretend its not there…

Regardless of how the panels may or may not have ruined the ambiance of the pictures, it was still a fun day for a rodeo!

Montana Mule Days

June 19, 2014 by Allison

Every town has their funny/crazy things that they do. In the little town where I grew up in they celebrate Mule Days. Seriously. Three days of mule games, events, parades… you name it they do it. I’m not really sure why though. I can only think of a handful of people in our valley that has mules so I don’t know why Drummond is the place for it. Actually, there was a time when they tried moving it somewhere else, but apparently that didn’t go over so well because it is back in Drummond!

We were visiting my parents over Mule Days and took a spin around. We missed the parade… but we did get to watch a little of the wagon events and some penning. For the life of my I don’t know why people prefer mules to horses (unless your packing… those animals can HAUL) but these folks do. We found mules in all colors, shapes, and sizes. And I must admit that some of the teams hooked up were beautiful!

Growing up we always said the best thing about Mule Days is the rain that comes with it. Not kidding. It seems that it rains this weekend every year. Boy we sure do love Mule Days!

The Cenex Man

September 13, 2013 by Allison

We took a quick jaunt up to Montana to visit my folks before we all got too busy with the fall work. It had been since Christmas that The Rancher was able to make it up there so thought it was time for a road trip. We ended up going in the middle of the week, which doesn’t leave a lot of playing time since my parents both work. No matter, the Rancher’s Wife is always up for a challenge!

My dad works for CHS (Cenex Harvest States) delivering practically whatever his customers need. He does any kind of feed, mineral, salt, gates, panels, fencing materials… whatever you need he can get (usually). Currently The Cenex Man is working to get the materials for a group of ranches to build about 13 miles of fence through some of the most beautiful country. On our way up to make the delivery I had to stop to take a few pictures because it was just beautiful. These are my mountains and ranges. Yes it is all covered with the same grass and sage brush but it has a special place in my heart. Its home.