Ranchin in the Rain

Beings I had a wedding in Hulett today, I thought I'd drop off the last few cows while I was at it. A win win in my book.

The Lord has been blessing us with abundant rain. I'm so thankful. It's incredibly beautiful and it's fun to play in the mud.

The girls will be happy. We'll call Joe's place the Hereford Ranch this year.

Just Ranchin 

It's hard to describe all the goodness of my day. Witnessing a wedding, baptizing a couple kids, celebrating two Masses, visiting good old ranch folks, attending the Catholic school concert and going to dinner with my buddy Paul's family, as well as delivering the cows... that's just fun. 

Irrigation

It’s hard to grow a weed around Worland without irrigation. Three weeks ago we had put hay seed in the ground and it was time to get water to it. What made it a challenge is we hadn't irrigated this corner since we put the pivot in almost 20 years ago. Let's just say this was one giant leap for man, even though it was a small step on the ranch. 

Getting water to the corner was the biggest obstacle. Everything on our little place is pumped, so the challenge lied more in finding the most economical way to pipe it there. Rob in Buffalo came through with 1200' of 6" aluminum pipe as well all the fittings necessary. Super helpful. Thanks man.

We had all the 4" sprinkle pipe. But in order to get the runs we needed we had to cut the ends off of 5 joints.

The 6" hydrants also needed a little doctoring so our openers would fit on them. 

Laying the 6" pipe out was definitely a two man job.

But the 4" was a three man job. Mom drove the ranch truck. 

Simple as that.

Actually words and pictures don't do this project much justice. For years we've been wanting to plant this corner. Watering it was always the challenge. Well, challenge met and challenge conquered. I'm sure there'll be some bugs here and there to work out. But the good news is that the grass and alfalfa seed has already germinated and begun to grow. Hopefully we can nurse it along till it gets established and then start to hay. it. Good irrigation can make a farmer out of anybody. 

Prayer and Fasting

Fasting is necessary throughout the whole year.

           https://youtu.be/tzgS1HtRBE8         

Hear Him

Reading a chapter of the Gospels every day will tune you into the voice of Jesus.

           https://youtu.be/Lb_1yAetckw         

 

Cowboy Ride

Saturday was the kickoff to the branding season. I hate setting the bar so high right out the gate, but that's life. Paul and Seamus Casey invited me up to the Marchant Ranch outside of Aladdin to ride and wrestle. Super fun. Could have done without getting up at 3am though.

Seamus stole the show with his calf whispering skills.

Here must be why they call this area Oak Creek. Scrub oaks are hard to ride through. Pretty common in NE WY. 

Pretty typical round up. Nothing too exciting except for loosing my phone on the prairie. Thanks St. Anthony. 

Hitching post. 

Cody was ready to rope. He put on a good clinic. 

Wrestling calves is more about finesse than brute strength. 

Paul in an acrobatic brander. He can get right down on a calf's level if need be. 

There's just no pretty way to castrate a calf. 

Three amigos

Just Ranchin  

Seamus leaves for the Air Force Academy in a month or so. We'll miss him, but a man's got to follow his heart. Just don't forget where you came from ol' son. Sit tall in the saddle and hold your head up high. God speed. 

 

Holy Communion

... is Heaven even now!

           https://youtu.be/zqYpa3_Ldug         

Cattle Drive

2022 Cattle Company day finally came. And the only way to get the girls to their summer home was a cattle drive. For big occasions such as this one should not attempt to ranch alone. So my trusty sidekick Kurt gladly lent a hand.

There's few men I'd could even think to call other than Kurt Mentele. He's always willing to help and keeps a light heart. My kind of guy.

I think overall the girls were excited to get new brands and head to the Hills. 

Kurt did most of the branding.

Though I did get to brand my Herefords. 

On them we used Dad's Reverse L Drawknife. Sure turned out nice.

Now that's a good looking herd. Eleven total this year. 

Then we jumped eight into the trailer and headed for the Raney Ranch in the Black Hills. 

I had the horses stashed in John's corrals on a previous trip. The girls lined out real nice as we trailed them to the north pasture. 

I'd like to say it was a boring drive, but they did have to break right and test our cowboy skills. We won. 

A cool down was definitely in order. 

For the horses and for us. 

If you want to peak my interest, just mention a cattle drive. Music to my ears. I love ranchin, and I'm so thankful John and Sue Raney let us run on their place. The cows love their grass and we love their company. Thanks crew for a good day and a successful drive. We're on to the next one...

The Father's Voice

Jesus is the voice of the Father, the Word made flesh.

           https://youtu.be/oZyxQcm87AY         

Rope Ready

My favorite season is soon upon us, branding. But there is little room for green cowboys or green horses in the pen. A man and his horse need to be conditioned and ready to go when they cross that gate into the calves with lariat in hand. Chief is old hat. Mollie has yet to have a rope swung off of her. So it was time the two met.

Mollie wintered well. Probably gaining a good 300lbs over the last year. She has brawn. To add to the cool factor as well as keep my saddle in the middle, we added a pulling collar to her riggin. Thanks Paul.

She had seen a rope in front of her during our ground work lessons. But I want her to have as much exposure to rope entanglement now in a safe space, so that in the branding pen when the rope runs up under her tail with a calf on the end of it, Fr. Bryce doesn't bite the dust. 

Once she was good with that, I started to swing the rope from the saddle. The next step is dragging something. I like to start pulling from the front and backing up so the horse can see from what comes the resistance and noise. Makes it all less scary for them. 

This makes the transitions to pulling from the rear a breeze. I think first impressions make a lasting mark in a horse's mind. Doing all of this in the practice pen of the round corral makes for a good experience now. Then when you add the craziness of the branding pen, it won't be as dramatic. 

Mollie is now ready, but we'll see about me. I rope like I bowl, the first one is always a strike. After that is usually down hill. 

I live for May. Branding is my favorite sport. We have our first gig this weekend in Aladdin. This'll be new territory for us. Whether we rope or not, I guarantee we'll have fun. On to the next one..

Show Me the Father

In Jesus we see the Father and the Holy Spirit.

           https://youtu.be/rXQLDhKJ4xY         

Very Important

 ... to get the divinity of Christ right.

 https://youtu.be/JgGIEgJ91sM 

Follow Me

Don't follow regret. 

           https://youtu.be/8zfktY6p288