Before the Storm

We had a thunderstorm rolling in this evening, so I took my phone out to see if I could catch some good pics. We have the horses and roping cattle right by the houses, so they turned into my subjects. (Any time I write 'subjects' I want to say "Haha! I have someone to rule!")

My pony, who is getting some well-earned vacation time. This old man was getting really cranky about working and just about caused a wreck a couple days ago because he was frustrated and didn't want to work. Plus he's losing weight even though I've been feeding him ~8lbs senior grain every day.

And then some grass/cactus shots. I love the cactus blooms. I think they are one of the prettiest flowers on the prairie...

This kind of grass is called 'needle and thread' because the seed head is kinda sharp, and the long awn follows it. 

(The sky wasn't actually this color...it's amazing what you can pull up by manipulating a photo!)

Missouri Trip

Hey guys! It's been a long time and I've got all sorts of stuff I've been accumulating-so hopefully I'll get back into blogging my life here....
But the fun stories start with the trip I just got back from! The ranch I work for has cattle pastured in Missouri (btw, I finally figured out how to spell it, I always want to spell Missouri "Mossuri" lol I'm nothing but literal) and we went to brand the calves. It was kinda interesting, since no one brands in MO, as there is no brand law there like there is here.
Also, being Colorado cowboys, we took horses to round them up. We ended up driving a group of about 30 pair (moma and calf) across the road and about 1/2 mile across a pasture to a working facility. The locals were just amazed at how well the cattle moved. Apparently they move cattle on ATV's and the cattle just scatter at full speed, so they don't move them. But take a look at this pasture:

(sorry about the slant....but it is really hilly there!)

We were talking about all the pasture management that we do out here, and how many more cattle they could stock by managing their pasture. But it's just not something that they think about since they are so lush.

I mean, look at how tall the grass is compared to the horses! and this is shorter grass!

I was really happy with how I roped this trip. I was catching both heels and getting my angles right. Getting Vegas to not gallop out of the pen took some effort, but no one got run over. :)

We stayed at this cute little bed and breakfast:

The train tracks are literally right behind the white house in the background, so every time a train went through town, the whole house would vibrate. We were so worked out though, that we barely noticed :)

Those are all the pics I took...guess I was too busy working :) but it was good to get back in Colorado, where the humidity is almost nonexistent, and you can see for 50+ miles. :)