April 15, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
Fall was in the air, calves had been shipped, and this particular bunch of cows needed to go down on the river bottoms for the winter. I was working full time for the outfit and knew this bunch of cows pretty well. They were high horned Herefords and spent every season on the forest permits […]
April 13, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
My husband and I were working for an outfit in Wyoming years ago. The crew was gathered up to get some cows and calves gleaned out of thick timber, both oak and brush thickets and pines. In the crew was the owners’ daughter, son-in-law and their two young kids. The folks were good hands and […]
March 26, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
He was a royally bred AQHA gelding that was about 7/8 Thoroughbred and looked it. Taping at an even 17 hands, he was an imposing figure of horseflesh. We called him Easy. I had traded for him from some friends. I had a mare they wanted and I needed a rideable gelding a lot more […]
March 24, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
The spring of 1981 I was working for and living with an elderly couple in the middle of nowhere, calving a big bunch of heifers and mother cows. They couldn’t do the outside work anymore, but had a neighbor who managed the place for them. He lived miles away and had thoughtfully brought all of […]
March 21, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
I used to day work for many ranchers when I wasn’t too busy at home. Doing that led to many interesting experiences. Some that required quite a bit of bravery. A registered Angus breeder hired me to come and help them fertility test all of their bulls. We had finished up testing about 70 sale […]
March 16, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
This is an old family story about how my Dad chose the horse that became his “horse of a lifetime”. It occurred the year before I was born, but I know it by heart because of Dad telling it over the years. When my folks were still in the family partnership, my Grandad had a […]
February 28, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
Where I grew up, my family’s ranch was side by side with my Dad’s brother Keith’s ranch. They were separate ranches, but we neighbored back and forth, especially as the kids grew up, left home, and the work force on each place got smaller. When I was in high school, my Dad loaned me to […]
February 22, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
The folks I was running some share cows for had gone to a registered sale back in feedlot country and brought home some corn fed, bedded in good hay, bred heifers. Bad enough that they were pampered and unfit to live in the ranch environment they were brought to, but they were also bred to […]
February 14, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
My right knee just isn’t what it was when originally issued. It’s had plenty of wear and tear over the years as most knees have. But, some incidents come to mind that really put the kibosh on the overall knee function and longevity. One particular one involved a crowding pen and an unaggressive cow. Fall […]
February 7, 2022
Jan Swan Wood
My Lily mare who was my top horse for nearly 20 years, was an outstanding individual as a saddle horse, had speed galore (came off the track), stayed broke, had lots of eye appeal and all that good stuff. But, for me, her best characteristic was her sweet and people loving disposition. She also loved […]