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Tag Archives: the cowboy life
What’s In a Name?
I’ve been sitting here, thinking over the years that I have been at Grapevine, and my mind went back to our very first guests. They were a young couple from Switzerland, by name of Annie and Urs, and they were touring around the USA. They stopped in here for a few days, we had a great time with them, and they left. When they checked out, they paid with a… Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged Arizona History, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, ranch life, the cowboy life, trail ride
2 Comments
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
The Piñata Tree
I guess when you live in a place where time stands still – and I hear it does that, for the guests – then, by a law of nature, it has to speed up for the rest of us, right?? Because for me, it sure flies – I can hardly believe that round up is over, the calves are with their moms on the Flats east of the headquarters, and… Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged Arizona History, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, pinata tree, round-up, the cowboy life, trail ride, trail riding
7 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
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
Introduction to Cow Camp
I have just come from the camp site where we are holding this week’s Cow Camp – a program where would be cowboys can learn some of the art of handling cattle. We spent a couple of hours erecting a big 7×10 ft. tent, where our cowboys and cowgirls can take shelter in case it rains, and it occurred to me that the rest of you may enjoy reading the… Continue reading
Posted in Latest News
Tagged cow camp, cows, Grapevine Canyon, guest ranch, horse riding, horses, the cowboy life
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The Sonoita Cowboy
As I am sure all of you know by now from my last two postings, we have had wonderful rains this January, totaling to date an exciting 4.8 inches, which should make for some spectacular spring wildflowers. Some of the moisture came in the form of snow, and, as much as I hate to be cold, I thought that the attached photo of the cattle ranch headquarters under snow is too beautiful not to share with you. Continue reading
Indian Days
And so, guess what – news, news! As I sit here, it is raining! And you wet land rats, who probably grump at the sight of a cloud in the sky, don’t realize what a blessing it is, to us in the high desert, to get some rain! It has rained for a day and a bit now, and in that time we got over 2.50 inches of rain, and the tanks in the Flats, which were all empty but one, have filled up with just this one bonanza! Just as well, as if they hadn’t, we had every prospect of having to water the cattle out of our domestic well, not a very nice thought at all. Continue reading