4 Before 12

October 13, 2019, Volume 14, Issue 39

Well hello everyone,

What a week we have had here at the ranch! Productive? No doubt about it. Exhausting? Perhaps. Absolutely fantastic? You better believe it!

This week was chalked full of old friends with whom it is wonderful to reminisce and get to know better as well as new friends that offered such great variety and joy to our week. We got to welcome back Trent and Julie as well as Kathleen and Brian who are not strangers to the happenings on the ranch. In addition, Amy and Scott were able to stay for another week! All of these wonderful people are no longer guests but are considered members of our little family here at McGinnis Meadows.

We also got to welcome a great group from China! They were delightful. And they did everything- a lot of horsemanship, cattle drives, trail rides, groundwork, and roping! While it is always challenging when there is a difference in language between groups of people, we all got along very well and had a great time. We are sincerely hoping that they will come back for another visit.

This week was the last week of our fall gather as we tracked down and moved all of the steers back down the mountain and to the Belgarde pasture. At the top of the week we had 11 steers left on Davis Mountain. The week got off to a great start as seven steers were found on Monday and moved to the Belgarde. Only four lonely little fellas remained. Keep in mind that Davis Mountain is approximately 7000 acres so finding these boys could prove difficult. Our teams set out regardless with high hopes and expectations of success. We searched on Tuesday and found nothing. We searched on Wednesday and found nothing. Thursday was going to be our day! Kathleen came up with our mantra for the day “4 before 12” which meant we would find the four last steers before 12:00 because it was so bitterly cold that everyone was just a bit anxious to be back cozy in front of a fireplace. Well, on Thursday we found nothing. But we were yet determined! After setting out of Friday there was great rejoicing over the face of the mountain when Roby called over his radio that he had found the steers everyone was looking for. His call came through at 12:35. It was decided that we could still hold fast to our motto from the day before- even though it was technically 24 hours past its expiration date.

With the finale of this week comes the ending of many things here at McGinnis Meadows. Our fall gather is over as all of our steers are now off of the mountain. Our peak season is over as it gives way to fall and winter horsemanship. And finally, many of our people are moving away. This past week we have said goodbye to Alyssa, Emily, and Yaz. Tomorrow we are saying goodbye to Rachel and Michelle is leaving next week. However, for all of these lovely ladies there is a joy in knowing they will be returning in the spring. But for one very dear individual it is a bit of a longer farewell. Sue is moving away. She is going back to California to start a beautiful life with her husband, and, of course, she is taking her horse Rowdy with her.  To know Sue is to love her. She will be dearly missed by everyone back here at the ranch and as she is going away she takes with her the promise that she is always welcome back home.

With that, I will bring this highline to a close. Next week will bring many great lessons in horsemanship- we’re diving deeper into our horsemanship program as we head towards winter!

Happy trails,

Anna