Blog - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Becoming a Real Cowgirl

May 1, 2015 by Allison

Ever since I married my cowboy I have wanted to rope. I grew up riding and working cattle, but we never got into roping. We were more on the cutting end of the cowboying. In fact, I still get cranky when I see a cowboy miss a good cut or turn because he was looking for a better shot to throw his rope. However, I do want to be a real cowgirl and learn to rope.

Over the last couple of years I’ve taken a swing or two with a rope at a dummy- some really intesnse cowgirl stuff. But more recently my husband and his brothers have taken it upon themselves to finally get this roping thing down. They have taken me out on some of their less intense branding days, where there wasn’t too much to get down that I could either slow down or get in the way. Actually that’s not true… I know not to try roping on the busy crazy days because I want to get home before dark or we run out of fire!

It was all good and fun but I wasn’t really figuring it out… Until just a few weeks ago!

I was honestly ready to give up and say that I just didn’t have it in me to be a roper. But The Rancher brought me along to one more branding. He gave me the experienced horse that would take his time (maybe he is slightly lazy…), put on my brand new saddle and I strapped on my new spurs. I had everything I needed to rock this branding. Oh wait- I didn’t have a rope!

We show up to our good friends where we were roping. There were 160 calves to brand and we were ready to get going. The Rancher just grabbed some old rope out of the trailer and we headed out. And I was terrible. I couldn’t hardly even keep my coils straight, couldn’t swing the rope to save my life, and missed every calf I tried for. For as many times I threw that rope I should have caught one by accident, even snagged one as it walked over my loop… but I didn’t.

I was ready to turn in and promote myself to the ground crew when one of the cowboys rode up to me, took my rope and traded it for his. He said there was no way in … that I could catch with that thing! He rode off and I figured I oughtta give it one more go, just to humor him. And guess what happened- I caught!

The very first loop I threw caught a calf! I just about forgot to dally because I was so surprised and so elated. I got my horse turned to the fire and drug my first calf in, get congrats and hoorays from everyone along the way- you would have thought I had just won the lottery for as excited as we were! They slid off my rope and I was out for another calf. I had to try again to make sure it wasn’t just luck, although I was sure that my friend must have rubbed a bit of luck on it. But as I kept going at it I kept catching. It was like I was really figuring it out! There was one time I had my arm up just right, rolling my wrist just right, and threw my rope just right. The rope landed right in front of those back feet just like it was supposed to. I was so excited that I totally forgot to pull my slack and actually catch the calf before he stepped back out…

I went home that day floating on clouds. I wasn’t a perfect roper or the best roper, but that day I finally became a roper. Now that I have my own saddle (because one day The Rancher said, “We need to get you your own saddle” and no good cowgirl says no to that!) some sweet new spurs and my own new rope (full of calf catching luck) I am on my way to being a real cowgirl.

*** I don’t have any picture roping that day, but I do have a few from a few weeks later taken by my sister in law, The Montana Girl.***

Fishing for Bales

April 29, 2015 by Allison

I realized my blogging/photography life has someone of a conundrum. When there isn’t a lot going on, I have post after post of feeding cows, the cute babies, and nothing terribly eye catching or exciting. But then we are busy as ever, I have HUNDREDS of photos to edit, tons of stories to tell and no time to sit down and tell them… So I am sitting down at the computer ready to tell you a story, pump out some photos and carving out some time for my blogging life.

This winter/spring has been different for us. Very different. First of all, we didn’t have winter… We had a flurry every so often but we never had the cold-for-days, snowed-in, stranded-for-days winter that we usually (ok, maybe not all that dramatic, but still… no winter). But it was also different for all of the cows calving at home. So many more to feed, keep an eye on, and tag. So many more cuties around!

We are experiencing a new “difference” lately. We are hauling down hay and feeding in Locomotive. With the lack of feed and the lack of rain, there just isn’t enough feed for what we need. The nutrition of our cows is super important so we trek down south with hay and get ’em what we need.

For a while we were taking down just a couple of bales at a time. But that was getting long and slow… So we figured we would load the semi and flat bed up and take a few loads out. It wasn’t all too irregular of an occurence- people haul hay all the time. Nothing to tell the blogging world about, right? That’s true, until it was time to unload.

You see, we don’t have a tractor down in Locomotive. Unloading hay minus a tractor means that we get to be creative. It didn’t occur to me that we were missing a KEY part of this job. Its not like they can dump themselves and we can’t really push them all off. So… What’s a rancher to do? How about fish them off?

The Rancher apparently knew EXACTLY what he was doing not bringing a tractor down. I never doubt that he knows what he is doing, but to me there were no clear solutions He always says I lack faith in him… I just tell him that I just wait to be dazzled by his brilliance! So he brought a big ol’ hook and rope to pull all the bales off. In reality it was pretty simple. The Ranch Boss was in the truck, pulling the bales off. The Rancher would do the fishing, hooking and catching the bale, and I was the go between running the hook from the bales on the ground to The Rancher. When we had so many pulled down that we couldn’t any more, we just pulled the semi up and went at it again. So easy! So much so that we did it again and I brought my camera to show you.

We get to be a little creative in this life. The Rancher lives for twine, duct tape, and his save-your-life drawer of nuts and bolts. Life tries to throw a kink in your plan, but we my guys around, we always have some new brilliant way to make it. Like fishing for bales!

Association Branding- Day 1

April 15, 2015 by Allison

We ad our first glorious day of branding our BLM cows with the association over the weekend. It was pleasantly a typical day with no surprises. The wind blew, the food was great, we all returned home covered in dust and we got a lot of branding done.

In between giving calves shots (because that is my specialty) I had some time to take some other awesome shots! (I guess I really am specializing in one thing!) There were some fun moments for me to capture- like a pair of pants that just didn’t last the day and are beyond repair! Of course my little boy always has his rope in hand ready to attempt to rope a calf.

I even had a new memory to capture… There were a few boys with a grocery sack they passed back in forth throughout the day as they were collecting all of the testicles. Why? I dunno… Maybe to give to their dog or cook up for themselves. But I wonder if they kept them… Cowboy E kindly fried up a rocky mountain oyster for them. They weren’t impressed with the taste… AT ALL! In fact I think one boy said that it was absolutely awful.

Then there were the classic moments to capture… I always find a face or two grimacing at the stink of the singed hair or carefully placed quick the calf just gave. The cowboys always turn out to be photogenic and ready for a photo shoot.

Brandings have to be some of my favorite ranch life moments to take. There are the cows, the calves, the horses, the cowboys, the newbies, the oldies, the cooks… So much to enjoy. And now that I’ve rambled enough you really can enjoy!

Enjoying the Monotomy

April 6, 2015 by Allison

Are you tired of hearing about our somewhat monotonous life lately? The cows have babies, we check the cows, we tag the babies, we feed the cows, we go to locomotive and then we repeat it all… Nothing crazy or extraordinary is happening so I don’t have stellar stories for you. I guess I could make one up… Would you know the difference? Don’t worry, I won’t…

On this sunny day the kids and I loaded up in the truck to truck down to Locomotive. Sometimes I like to go just because it gets the kids out of the house so they can’t destroy the house so much. Seriously, I am ready for summer for them to spend all of their time outside. I feel like a make ZERO progress… I’m sure no other mom has had that problem, right? I heard a saying the other day about how trying to clean the house with kids around is like trying to brush your teeth while eating Oreos. Yes. Truth.

So we drive with dad. The Rancher has a bike stashed down with the cows to buzz around the cows we quick. The kids and I take that time to do some exploring. We find sticks and rocks and tags and occasionally something cool like old plastic pipe. Ya, know… typical childhood treasures. We throws rocks and take walks while trying to avoid the poop and not chase all of the cows away. Its kinda hard for me to take ranch pictures when I can’t find the cows… This fine day we stopped by the troughs to throw rocks in they overthrow ponds. I’m pretty sure I was the coolest mom that day!

They threw rocks. I snapped pictures and this is what we ended with!

Monotony can be nice sometimes… You enjoy these photos and I’ll go whip up something a little crazy!

A Little Cattle Character

March 27, 2015 by Allison

I like cows… And I like them for more than eating. I actually think they are really funny to watch. They have their own funny quirks and personality. I may humanize them a bit, ok a LOT bit. But it keeps things interesting.

The Rancher probably thinks that I am crazy and he probably gets tired of my cow watching, but he just gets to deal with it. I’m sure that he gets sick of me taking the cow’s side when I say things like, “I wouldn’t want to run if I was 9 months pregnant!” as he is chasing cows. Or when he frustrated with a cow that just won’t hold still as they preg check her, I tell him I wouldn’t want someone’s arm up my huh-huh and would DEFINITELY squirm. I may even occasionally tell him he deserves some of the mean-mommy-attitude because he is messing with their babies and the inner momma bear just isn’t ok with it.

Having so many cows at home this winter has given me lots of subjects to watch. They turn into a bunch of obsessive old ladies when it come to feeding time. They have to be the first one to the hay and if another cow starts munching on the wrong flake they sure tell them. They get to head buttin’ and kickin’ and eventually push them right out. “You’re outta the herd!” You can hear them saying that, right?

The babies are their own kind of cute and fun when it comes to watching them. The first attempts at getting up are so wobbly and even funny! Is that mean of me? (I’m sure someone laughed at me when I first started walking, so its all ok…) It doesn’t take long for those babies to get strong and fast and they race across the fields. We’ll be out feeding and you see dozens of calves just take off running. Usually there is one old cow babysitting all those calves and she starts bellering (is that a word?) for them to come back… Darn kids…

I’m sure I give these critters more personality than they may have, but I love the bit of cattle character we see. With so many of the blasted things around, why not change it up a little?

Test Day on the Ranch

March 23, 2015 by Allison

Spring is in the air and we are doing spring things on the ranch. Field work, taking care of new babies, semen testing bulls…

Oh, what? Testing bulls isn’t part of you think of spring time? I know, I’ve been ruined… Its funny the ways that ranch life has influenced my thinking. But yes, when I think about testing bulls and going to bull sales, I feel like spring is in the air.

Testing bulls was as exciting as usual this year. We teased Rancher Sr. about his fun running the torpedo and I took a look or two in the microscope. This year we had Dr. Philip come out to do the testing. The fun about this is that he was actually The Rancher’s roommate from college. That means I get to learn a little dirt on my cowboy. I won’t tell you those things… they aren’t blog-o-sphere appropriate… Actually I’m sure that I would be dead if ever I mentioned those secrets from the Dr.

As weird as it may be, I love test day. I love the medical side of ranching just as much as the daily chores. There is so much that they are looking for when they test- how many swimmers there are in each squirt of semen and how many of those swimmers are good and viable. They measure the scrotal circumference and of course test for Trich.

What a wonderful spring day it was with the good folks from the Bear River Animal Hospital. We heard some great stories, learned some new things and got some important work done. Although, I guess it may be somewhat of an awkward day, at least for the man running the torpedo!

So Many Calves, So Many Tags

March 20, 2015 by Allison

Having tripled the number of cows that are calving on the ranch that means we get to spend a significant more time tagging. And if we don’t spend a good chunk of tagging every day the number of calves needing tagging really piles up. In fact, we did have a few days pass by where we didn’t get to the tagging, which meant The Rancher and Rancher Sr. spent nearly the entire morning getting caught up.

The hard part isn’t necessarily that there are so many to do. Yes, it takes more time from their day, but they just expect that in the midst of calving and tagging season. What really stinks about missing days of tagging is that the calves get bigger and faster in such a short time. If we get to them within the first day of being born, they don’t really take off or aren’t too fast on those new legs. But give them a few days and they get a little stronger and a little wiser and take you for a chase! I tease The Rancher that its the best way he gets his running in. If he really wanted to go running so bad, he could just come in the mornings with me rather than letting the calves get too old. As you can imagine, he just rolls his eyes at me…

Tagging for us is pretty simple. With the heifer calves, we match the momma’s number to the calves. That’s mostly because they tend to forget which calf is there and need a little help (I’m so funny…). But its helps us to make sure everything is pairing up ok. With the older cows we are tagging the pure bred calves with an orange tag vs the sem-angus cross calves with a black tag. We differentiate which ear heifers and steers get tagged. Just a few things for us to see about the calf when we look at it. They all get their first round of shots and then the boys get castrated with a rubber cheerio.

When I write it all out like that, it seems like a lot more than what we do in reality. It only takes just a minute. And that sure is a good thing with so many babies and so many tags!

Late Night Babies

March 16, 2015 by Allison

Life would have it that whatever crazy that could happen, will happen at just the wrong time. I mean, we all live a life with Murphy stopping in for a visit. Some even have a spare room for Murphy… Calving always brings good ol’ Murphy along for a stop in, but fortunately for us it hasn’t been too frequent!

Really our calving is going great! (but now that I have spoken it out to to the blog world we are doomed, I’m so sure…) These first time mammas are doing terrific. There is always an occasional issue of one heifer trying to claim another but that’s easy enough to handle. And not too many have needed help birthing. Only a handful have had calves big enough that the cowboys have stepped in to pull it. And then all of the babies are doing well to jump up just as soon as they splat on the ground. We really can’t complain.

But there are those couple of times of craziness that keep us from letting our guard down. There was a freezing, moonlit night that particuarily comes to mind. It was a cold night, but I’m sure that it seemed so much colder because as late as it was, I was all so cozy and ready for bed. But every calving season we need one bed time calf pull.

The Rancher had gone out for a meeting just as dinner was ending, promising it would be quick- only like a half hour or hour at the most. I knew better but it wasn’t a big deal because I would just put the babies to bed and have some time to myself. The kids bathed, we cleaned up toys and settled in the chair for some stories before bed time. It didn’t take long for sister to fall asleep and I was left to snuggle with The Rancher’s Sidekick. We had just finished Curious George when The Rancher came home, two hours later! He said a quick hello, grabbed his flash light and headed out again, this time on the 4wheeler. It was his week for the late check, so it wasn’t a big deal. It turned out to be a big deal when he came right back home. A check that quick means something is up and required icky clothes.

My suspicions were confirmed when I heard him on the phone calling Rancher Sr. asking for help to pull a calf. The heifer had started before he had left and it had been long enough that it was time to get the calf out. Of course she would need to be pulled just after I had pulled on my pjs and was minutes from getting The Rancher’s Sidekick to bed. But the ranch girl in me wouldn’t miss a chance to help. So we bundled up, pjs and all, to help dad pull the calf.

Getting the heifer in the maternity pen proved to be an issue of itself. They generally go in pretty well when they can see where they are heading, but getting them in during the night has its own issues to be dealt with. Just imagine a cow in labor running while you chase her having only a spotlight to help you see all while still trying to drive the 4wheeler… fast… When the chase gets that intense, I opt to sit out because experience has told me that The Rancher can get a little crazy. I choose life, thanks… I think that they traipsed across the heifer hill so many times that they hit all for corners, nearly went out the gate, and then finally made it in.

Looking at the heifer we were pretty worried because things did not look normal. There wasn’t a bubble showing or feet poking out. It just looked weird. Lucky for us, everything was going fine but it was just a huge calf. A LUNKER of a calf. After some intense pulling and pushing and groaning (from the cow, not just me) we had a baby. Having babies of my own has made me quite sympathetic and I think that every time I watch those heifers calve I push right along with them. Its tough work!

The happy arrival of this baby heifer wasn’t the end of the night. Yes this story had a happy ending, the momma licking the baby and baby struggling up. But while The Rancher and Rancher Sr. were getting this momma in, they noticed another calf. A hardly licked off teensy baby without a momma. Abandonment is not really conducive to survival. Kinda common sense, but not all heifers have it. We buzzed around what seemed like forever until we found who we figured was the mom. We tried chasing her over to the baby. We trying just letting her go over to it herself. We tried getting her into the maternity pens. And all she would do was run. If it were me, I’m pretty sure I would park myself and not move- going for a run after birth doesn’t sound good to me! But this cow had something else on her mind and just did not want to take care of her calf.

At that point there wasn’t a lot we could do but wait and see. The calf was in a good place for the night so we opted to let them play things out and we would just keep checking in on them. We headed into the house to thaw our frozen cheeks. Come morning the darn cow STILL hadn’t claimed her calf. And with the morning came more attempts to get her in and get the calf on her. At that point we opted to just take the calf and put her on the milk cow.

Now why couldn’t all of this craziness have happened in the sunshiny day rather than the freezing night? I dunno… There must be some sort of quota those cows have to fill of keeping us up in the night. On the plus side, at least we only had to go out once. And we got to finish Curious Gorge before our wild night began!

Bringing in the Babies- The First Look of the 2015 Calf Crop

March 11, 2015 by Allison

There are so many babies at our house! I love it! In fact, I almost don’t know what to do with myself… Actually… sadly, I haven’t run out to frolic with the new babies as much as I would like. But I still get to drive by them every day and see them enjoying the hot sun. Occasionally I’ll get the privilege to run through the cows to check for any newbie (that really means that everyone else is gone and I’m the all they got to keep an eye on things.. HA!).

And when I do go out I grab the kids and the camera and we enjoy a few minutes in the nursery. There are a few fresh babies we have found, some very protective mommas that we have kept our distance and lots of cute squeals from my babies about the new cuties!

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.