Herding Cows On A Working Ranch In Washington

I would consider myself adventurous.  My friend Kari wanted me to experience a little of what life is like on her family's ranch so I agreed to play along.  I headed out to the ranch located two hours West of Spokane outside of a small town where there aren't any stoplights or grocery stores to be found.  However, I did notice a blacksmith and a post office.

This is her way of life year round.  The cows are out to pasture at the moment, so I decided to tag along while she moved them to another pasture.  Trading horses for ATV's, we headed out to herd the cows from one stretch of land to the next.  It's a good thing she knew where we were driving and what we were doing.  There were bumps, holes, drop offs, etc in the ground that I didn't notice until I was right up against it.  The last time I sat on an ATV I was 16 and it was a three wheeler.  As I was going up a hill, I didn't distribute my weight high enough so I jumped off and the ATV went crashing down the hill.  Of course, I didn't mention this to Kari at the time.

This time, it was a smoother ride.  I learned a lot about ranching on our adventure.  I didn't know that cows will come to you when called.  At one point, we were driving along and she kept yelling, "here...cows!...hereeeeee cows!!!"  I thought that was nice that she was saying hello but in fact, they listened and a few moments later, we were in the line of a stampede.  Just as the cows got to the gate, they stopped when they saw me, unsure of what I was doing there with my camera.  I slowly tip toed out of the way and they continued on their way.

After we did this a few times, we drove around the area to explore empty barns, a cemetery and stopping to chat with a neighbor on his ATV driving by to check on an area he sprayed the day before.  Three ATV's on the same road would be considered a traffic jam in this area.  In fact, after chatting with Kari's dad for a while, he doesn't even know where the key to his house is located.  "What do I need a key for?" he said.

Life is sure different out on the ranch.  I think everyone should experience this once in a lifetime.  I am not a beef eater but I think it's a good education to see where your food comes from and the people behind the work.  I also toured a working ranch in Arizona where they branded cows in front of us.  Wasn't the most pleasant sight but it's what they do to keep Americans fed.

Thank you Kari for the tour! She will be featured in my "Women's Work" project.  To see more photographs of these women, click HERE

A Day In The Life On A Northern Arizona Ranch

This past weekend I joined the Sisters on The Fly to camp, relax and take a day trip to visit a working ranch.  This was my first time joining these ladies who's motto is, "we have more fun than anyone."  Oh yeah?  We'll just see about that!

I will write more about these wonderful ladies in an upcoming blog.  For now, I will talk about the day trip we took to a working ranch in Northern Arizona.  I knew that the plan was to visit a ranch, however I didn't know what was in store for us.  We were greeted by some amazing and welcoming people at the ranch house who were gracious and more than willing to take time out to pose for a photograph or two for me.  The kids were wonderful.  The scenery was unreal and everything was what you might imagine a ranch to be.

Being from California, I haven't had the opportunity to witness a working ranch and see how these folks live.  It's a life of hard work and love for what they do, since you won't get rich being a farmer.  It's a way of life that they love and for them, they wouldn't have it any other way.  We took a tour of the ranch, were able to pet some horses and at the end of the tour, it was time for all of us to watch as they branded several cows.  I am not a meat eater, but I do respect what they do for the people who do eat meat.  It was hard for me to watch at first, especially seeing how stressed the animals were to be put in the situation they were in. As far as treatment of the animals go, I know that there are much worse situations so I would consider these cows lucky to live on this particular ranch.

I am thankful to the family that allowed us to come to the ranch and witness what they do on a daily basis.  They are pretty proud of what they do, as they should be.  If it weren't for ranchers like these, you wouldn't get to enjoy many of the foods that you are able to purchase at the store.  I have great respect and admiration for the amount of work it takes to run a farm.  It was an education to see it first hand. I would recommend a visit to a local farm in your area if you get the chance.

I look forward to more experiences such as this one.  For more photographs of life on this ranch, click HERE.

Kellie and Kahlua

Yesterday I went to visit Kellie and her horse Kahlua on the ranch to take a walk and snap a few photographs of the two of them.

Kellie is a painter and her new passion is taking care of her horses Kahlua and Lady Fairfax on the ranch near her home.  I don't have the experience that she has with horses but I know to stay clear when I walk behind them and be as gentle as possible.  As a child, a horse decided to take a dirt bath while I was riding it (I stepped off before I was smashed into a pancake) and once while riding down a steep hill on a cliff, I ended up hanging on the neck of the horse the entire way down.  So, I am not going to sign up for the rodeo anytime soon. Perhaps I will go back and ride on one but for the day, it was a gentle walk around the property.

You could tell that I don't spend that much on at a ranch when I arrived in flip flops.  I wore these same sandals hiking in national parks and stepping through the swamps in Alabama.  I suppose next time I will have proper foot attire.

The day was beautiful.  The horses were happy at the ranch and we came across several riders on the trail enjoying the moment.  They really are amazing and beautiful creatures.  Thank you for the wonderful day Kellie and Kahlua!

For more images of the day, click HERE