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Tag Archives: ranch life
Old Camp Rucker
All this talk of border crossings has made me think of a wonderful book called “Cowman’s Wife”, written in the 1940’s by Mary Rak. It’s the story of her husband and herself ranching in the remote Rucker Canyon of the Chiricahua Mountains. They bought the ranch sometime in the 1920’s but it already had a rich and varied history.
In 1878 it was the site of a military supply… Continue reading
It’s For Your Own Good!
Those of you who have been reading the Comments from the Corral may have been wondering at the relatively long silence from that voluble quarter – the reason being that I have had a bout of horse health problems – but please notice!! Your favorite horses are back and talking, so check it out, under the “Stay Connected” tab on the home page.
So to the health problems – my beloved, grumpy, but lovable Tequila suddenly developed a lumpy, scaly, nasty patch on an unmentionable part of his anatomy. I took him to our local vet, who diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma and said that he couldn’t treat it, it would have to be the horse hospital. So off we went to our special, much respected veterinarian at the equine hospital in Tucson, who confirmed the diagnosis and said that before he could do anything, Tequila would have to get rid of the sand currently sloshing around in his large intestine. As there are about 100 ft. of this intestine, you can imagine that quite a lot of sand can be carried in there, with the nasty potential of a blockage, and a painful attack of colic – horrid thought. So this naturally panicked me – I took him home again (and, as it’s a two hour drive to the place, this was a four hour trip) and we set out on a regimen of getting Tequila to eat psyllium pellets. Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged City Slickers, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, paint horse, palomino, ranch life, the cowboy life, trail ride, trail riding
3 Comments
Golfing Bulls, Appaloosas & Garden Snakes
I know I talked about the round up last time, but I thought I would share a couple of photos taken by Kristin – these gals don’t look as if they want to be friends any time soon!!
Following round up, two of our bulls decided they’d had all the fun they could stand here at the ranch, and they headed north. Somehow the fence at the northern boundary had got loosened, and they hopped through it, and made for Cochise. Luckily someone saw them, read the brand, called us, and we got them back home. It brought home the reason why it is illegal, in Arizona, to turn out cattle without a brand – it sure makes for good friends and neighbors! Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged Apache Reservation, Appaloosa, Arizona History, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, Palouse River, ranch life, round-up, the cowboy life
6 Comments
Masquerading Cheese
It seems that every year the dates of the annual round up come earlier and earlier – or is that a sign of age?? Actually, this year the date has come earlier, as we moved our spring gather forward. Consequently we will be branding calves a month sooner than usual, and then, later in the year, selling them a month sooner also, hoping to beat the rush to market by the rest of the ranching community. Continue reading
When Horses Grow Old
To my mind, one of the drawbacks of having a guest ranch is the inevitable aging of horses. I always think it’s so sad that animals should become old so much more quickly than we do – witness all the beloved dogs and cats that one has had over the years. Not fair that they live a mere fraction of a human life! Dogs, popular wisdom says, age seven years Continue reading
You Mean the Game is Over?
Out in the Country
About two years ago I became a member of a very informal women’s group, and we meet once a month for the best of reasons – to eat! Hence, we generally meet at some eatery or other, and we have tried many over the years. An East Indian restaurant… Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged Arizona History, arizona wild flowers, desert southwest, gossip rocks, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, nature, ranch life, trail ride, trail riding
3 Comments
Busy Little Donkey Hooves
It looks as if spring is here – the weather has warmed up, and there are buds and little leaves on the trees and bushes in my patio, promising a lovely flowery time to come.
And I should have said all this last week – because, as I sit here now, the little leaves and buds are but a memory, having been devastated by donkeys Miss Katie and Miss Sarah, both of whom were surprised by Danny on the patio, dining at leisure. Not only did they totally devour all the buds on my roses, but they also managed to destroy all other new growth by the simple method of seizing the poor little plants by the hair and dumping all the soil out of their pots. Then, if it proved delectable and edible, it was devoured – if not, it was disdainfully flung on the ground and trampled by busy little donkey hooves. Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged donkeys, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, ranch life, singles week, trail riding
1 Comment
It Only Does EVERYTHING!
I had been listening, for some time now, to countless people extolling the virtues of something called a Smoothie – and, seeing that it’s something to eat, and so is always of interest to me, I investigated further. It appears that one can make this concoction by using frozen fruit and good stuff like yoghurt – but I am Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged desert rains, fruite smoothie, fun in Arizona, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, magic bullet, nature, ranch life
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What a Show This Will Be!
You know that Arizona is on the national map when the New York news channels start talking about the awesome spring flowers that are about to appear! Generally, especially with the weather news, we are, to put it in cow vernacular, sucking on the hind tit. Are there storms in the east? More than well covered. Frost in Florida … heat wave in Chicago …mud slides in California… you bet you hear about it…. global warming, global cooling, long and short summers – we are treated to it all, as long as it doesn’t concern the south west. Perhaps they think we are still a part of Mexico, before the Gadsden Purchase? Continue reading
Fiesta de los Vaqueros
I am looking forward to a riot of wildflowers due to the lovely rains in January, and I wonder how many of you know that a seed can live in this desert earth for up to 200 years without germinating – and then, when it gets some rain just at the right moment, it bursts out with a flower you’ve never seen before! I remember one year when almost overnight all the bushes on the mountains became entwined with long, thin tendrils of green covered with the most delicate, tiny mauve bells, so that each manzanita bush looked like it was shrouded in gauzy veils. Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged Arizona History, arizona wild flowers, desert rains, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horses, nature, ranch life, Tucson Rodeo
3 Comments