Short Days and Low Temps
- January 9, 2018
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- Savanna Simmons
Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
I have never referred to myself as a cowgirl and there’s a simple reason for that: I’m no cowgirl. I’m not tough. To call myself a cowgirl would be an insult to those women (and men) who are out there making a living a-horseback in less-than-ideal weather conditions. I’m pretty content to sit in my cozy house and snap a few photos through the window of the guys as they ride out in negative temps in pursuit of cows to be gathered out of a rather sizeable pasture today, sorted tomorrow, and preg-checked the day after. That sounds like three really cold days to me.
I salute the cowboy for rolling out of the nice warm bed each morning to shimmy into four uncomfortable layers that keep a guy (somewhat) warm, but make it none to easy to move as they need to, do their best to climb into a freezing pickup—probably after having to brush off last night’s snow and scraping the ice from the windshield—and head out to chop ice and feed cows the exact amount of {insert feed type here} that they have calculated down to the ounce per pound of cow.
They’re purple-toed mathematicians, four-layer bronc stompers, feeders of a mostly-ungrateful America, yet cowboys, cowgirls, buckaroos, ranchers, and farmers press on each day through snow, ice, and freezing temps, and that’s a good day. I don’t even want to mention if a water-line breaks, a horse colics, a pickup gets stuck, or a favorite dog doesn’t make the loop when they gather. I salute you cowboys, but from my toasty warm house. I think I’ll go throw another log on the fire now. It’s got to be warm when my husband—who will resemble a popsicle with a mustache—returns to the house. The least I can do for him is have a fire roaring and chili ready.
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Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
About Savanna Simmons
I'm Savanna Simmons and I live north of Lusk, Wyoming, on the Four Three Ranch with my husband Boe and our sons, Brindle and Roan. I grew up evolving my horsemanship with clinicians like Ray Hunt, Joe Wolter, and Jack Brainard, but not within a...