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
No comments:
Post a Comment