"On the Road Again"

 Hello Again!! Yesterday I traveled down the snowy hi-line to the IX Ranch! Its been a few days so I have a lot to catch you up on...

Finally! The snow has arrived! There wasn't much of it but we still got some moisture! I hope there is more to come for our farmers :)

As I was saying before, yesterday I left the newly frosted farm en route to my new destination...the IX Ranch.

Because I am a procrastinator, I waited until Sunday morning to "officially" pack everything. And I do mean everything. This was a different kind of packing though. I didn't pack my straightener or my curling iron, or hardly any make-up (I still gotta wear mascara =). The only shoes I packed were boots. And I think I packed every article of warm clothing I could find. Dad was kind enough to help me pack the Hummer:

Before I embarked on my adventure yesterday, I decided that everyone should meet some of the "folks" at home and show some of the things I will be missing while I am away.

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Meet: The dogs of the farm!

This is Jake! He is a very overly excited border collie who gets excited if you just look at him. The "cute-sier" you talk to him, the harder he wags his tail. (By cute-sier I mean the way you would goo-goo gaa-gaa talk to a baby)

Meet Angel: The shy, timid "alpha-female" of the group. She hates playing with Penny but is a really good working dog when we move the cows. She is mostly Mom's dog.

And last but not least, this is Penny, my pup who will be a year old in March. I used to think she was deaf but now I just think she has selective hearing. Her favorite games are keep away and "lets chew holes in Mom's socks". Oh, and how could I forget! She might have puppies, the Heinz 57 version. Mom is really happy about this (not!) because I just left and now she has to deal with it. We should know in a couple weeks if she will be having little pups around the end of March. The dog that may have bred her is a border collie/sheep guard dog cross. You know, those big white sheep dogs. Poor puppies, they will be so confused. They won't know whether to guard the sheep or chase them!

We also have another dog. Her name is Maggie and she is supposed to be a guard dog. She made a pretty good run at it for a year but then retired herself and spends her days slaying pigme goats, laying in the feed bunk, or stealing chickens. She's really earning her keep around the place (not).

 While I am gone, Mom will be lambing! We had a few lamb out while I was there for market lambs but the majority of the flock will lamb while I am gone.

Right now Mom is bottle feeding her "special" lamb. His name is Vanny, short for Van Gogh. The reason for the name? He only has one ear. He was born that way. Why is he "special"? He is a little slow, kinda cocks his head side ways, and his jaw is a little crooked. He still can't figure out how to get the Momma's milk. He's a pitiful looking little bugger but at least he's alive!

This is the chicken that thinks she is a sheep. Well, I don't know if she really thinks that, but she lives in the sheep barn.

Another cute little baby picture!

Look who was waiting outside the sheep barn for me like a good little sheepdog! 

She looks so innocent right now....

As I was making my way around the farm, I checked in on the "heavies", the cows that are waiting to calve. And this is what I found....

Maggie thinks she wants to guard the cows now.....

This is the newest of my four (bull) calves. Not one heifer yet! Hopefully I get some replacements soon!

Happy Cows make Happy Calves! 

Anyways, that concludes my short photo tour of the farm. I am going to miss the farm, my family, and my friends so much! I am hoping this final adventure offers me many new lessons too learn as well as new ideas that I can bring back to our operation to help Mom and Dad.

Speaking of this new adventure... I arrived last night around 5:30 and got settled into my new home. I feel like I am living in the dorms again! More pictures of my humble abode will come later.

I have survived my first day, enjoyed many laughs, and created new friendships today. Sounds like a successful day to me! 

Thanks for reading and I'll keep everyone posted!

Happy Trails!

"Wide Open Spaces"

Whew! Here goes my first attempt at this blogging thing. We'll see how it goes. I decided to start this so that everyone who pleases can keep up on my adventures of my internship: the last 3 credits, 2 months, and 1 requirement left in my Animal Science degree. The ranch: IX Ranch Co. of Big Sandy, MT. How long? 2 months: February 26-May 1(ish). Why: Because I love the babies! And riding, feeding, spring time, ranching, branding, and everything else that goes along with it (except for the obviously inevitable dead calves, sleep deprivation, and frozen toes and fingers). Here is the link to the website so you can read all about it: http://www.ixranch.com./ There is a little background for you there.

First off, I will be getting situated at the "Whitcraft" for the first part of my internship, living in the bunk house with 3 others. (It's like the dorms all over again...) I'll have some more information on them later. The bunkhouse is simply...a bunkhouse; no more, no less. There are 4 bedrooms, an over-sized open area with a tv and chairs, and a bathroom. This will be my home for about a month. It also has the internet (Thankfully!) so I can communicate with the outside world. We also have a cook! Her name is Anna :) She has her own house though and that is where we eat our meals. You might be asking yourself how I know all these details.  Earlier this month, Todd Amsbaugh, my manager/boss guy, asked me to come and help them bring replacement heifers home and sort them into the keeps and the culls. (We brought in and sorted 1200 in 2 days).  He said it would be a good opportunity for them to "see me at work". The first thing I thought was "greeeaaaat", this is going to be like a tryout and everyone will be watching "the new girl". Which, by the way, is a horrible thing for me because I get really nervous when I know people are watching! Fortunately, it wasn't really that way and I had a great time. He even said I was a pretty good rider and could count on me to do a lot of field calving! This also calmed my nerves a little and I got the inside scoop on the place (thanks Samantha!).

Needless to say, I have spent the last few weeks getting everything together so that I don't wait until the last minute to pack. On Monday, I made a screaming trip to Great Falls to get supplies (2 months worth of "essential bathroom items" and about 4 different kinds of gloves are not cheap!) so I am almost ready to go. I have also had my saddle in the house for a while trying to twist the stirrups more. I found out on my first trip to the IX that wearing new Kennetrek pac boots with stiff stirrups makes for two sore outer shin/ankle areas.  Hopefully my efforts will pay off. If not, I'll just have to "Cowboy Up".

I leave for the IX on Sunday so I've still got a few days left to pack, work, feed our cows and calve at home, help Mom (she sprained her ankle yesterday and is "gimpy"), spend some time with my man <3, practice backing up the hay buster, and study up on the IX calving procedures.

In the meantime, I will give you an update on the Wallewein Ranch calving...later. Probably tomorrow. 

You can expect lots of pictures during this adventure and probably some funny stories. Hopefully I will be able to give daily accounts of my happenings too.

Thanks for reading and remember, 

Don't forget to check your cinch ;)

Jesse