Halter Breaking continues

The show moves on. Today is day 3 and the last day that we will halter and work with the foals. Tomorrow, we'll vaccinate and brand before they are turned out to pasture for the rest of the summer. It's simply amazing that this age ol' process just takes THREE DAYS. As you can see by the photos that Sam Cunningham caught this morning on her iphone, even the little cowboys get to be a part!

Ben McCartney relaxes with one of the foals.

Casey Mitchell leading one of the foals around in the Texas heat.

"GOOSE" ~ a cowboys right hand!

"FIRST HALTER" ~ my baby....Maraposa x Twister!

"HORS'IN AROUND"

It's THAT week.....this week, I mean is THAT week. THAT week where everyone drops everything to spend the days with the foals/mares. Halter breaking, vaccinations, branding, and palpating.....all this week. Stop in for a glass of ice tea and see this amazing process in action!

It's EASTER at the Ranch

"TOOLS OF THE TRADE"

It's EASTER at the RAB today because Dr. Mike Mimms from Hereford, TX is here hunting (flushing, collecting) eggs out of 26 donor cows at the RAB. The embryos are then put into recipient cows, the surrogate mothers, right away. From the sounds of it, we are doing well above average so far with about 14 embryos per donor on average. Yeeeeeehawwwwwww!

DEEP SEAT

Love the morning light (golden glow) on this old saddle!

"DEEP SEAT"

LIFE IN THE WEST

Ahhhhh, ranch life. It is the kind of thing that we all love or we wouldn't be here. Through the years, our family has been fortunate to have the opportunity to get to know one of the champions when it comes to capturing it with a camera, David Stoecklein. Hanging in our homes and office are many of his works of art from his time on the ranch. Probably none more famous than the grandkids on the fence.....affectionately titled, THE LESSON.

"GIRL POWER" .... 12 year old Amanda Brown drags one to the branding fire. April 2011.

"HORSE POWER"... Myles Brown pulls an Angus calf in for branding/working. April 2011

"HIRED HANDS" ...Good buddies, Waitley Sharon and Ike Brown are high on entertainment value during the branding. April 2011

Fast forward to Christmas 2010.....I was elated to be given a gift certificate from Rob and Peggy to attend one of Stoeckleins Photography Workshops. My niece, Emily McCartney, and I traveled to the Twin V Ranch outside of Weatherford, TX recently for the 2 1/2 day event. What transformed was way beyond our expectations. I have to admit.....although I have had a long time love for the camera.....I have been a self-proclaimed novice....running the camera on AUTOMATIC all of the time. Although I still have a long ways to go....it is with pride that I now have ventured off into the manual settings and found a new found enjoyment of it. David took all ten of us to a different level. We were thoroughly taken care of by the host Saunders family and their friends. I am looking forward to investing more time in capturing the wonderful laboratory of west Texas that we have been blessed with preserving. I would love to hear your feedback on these photos and hope that it will be something that you can find as much enjoyment in the view finder as I have!

Spring has Sprung!

Oh how I love this time of year.....for many reasons. As old man winter goes away, signs of spring seem to show itself out every window. So, when the hubby said, "Let's go take a look at some calves" this evening, I reached for my camera and climbed aboard. I was struck by the contrast of the "newness" of the baby calves and lush, fragile, green grass against the dormant mesquites. The wives tale in these parts is that the mesquites won't bud until after the last freeze......so I guess we are still due for another one. Regardless, it is nearly time to pull out the straw hats and flip flops......bring on SPRING!