Volume 17, Issue 8
Hi everyone, Des here! It’s been a while since I’ve wrote this little gem and it feels good to yap at ya a little!
Right now, I’m sitting in our cabin on top of Pier Mountain…for those of you who were with us last fall, you will remember that as our newest grazing piece. Our crew got it fenced in and Willy, our big equipment operator, got the land cleared up really nice last fall. It was already one of the most beautiful pieces on McGinnis Meadows property—the views go as far as the eye can see and it connects the ranch in such a way that it is a sanctuary for wildlife and a place for our horses, cattle, guests and for us, that will never be developed—forever and ever.
Right now, covered in several feet of snow, it is currently a snowmobile and snowbike paradise on the weekends. Willy also made wide open faces and cleared out all stumps. It doesn’t seem like the wildlife mind that either as they frequent our tracks to get to and fro around the place.
We are currently bracing for the second wave of a pretty big storm and the clouds above are moving FAST. After some subzero temps in December and into January, February has been oddly warm. It almost feels like springtime weather and we have enjoyed daytime temps in the high 30s to mid 40s just about every day. This storm promises a bit more snow (we’ve got maybe half a foot so far) and single digit temps with windchill temps to -35 over the next several days!
This is a HUGE change in a short amount of time, so as you can imagine, the crew has been preparing. We always have cold weather plans for lodging units so nothing will freeze. Plugging in vehicle batteries so that they do not freeze. Parking feed vehicles indoors. The biggest priority is the livestock. Waters need to be checked around the clock. Feed has to be kept in front of the horses at all times to generate energy which generates heat. When the horses have to share their hay with up to 150 head of elk (whatever decides to freeload on a given day) that means we need to keep a close eye to make sure they aren’t short-changed. Horses are looked over often to make sure eyes are bright and nothing seems amiss. Brenda is the most attentive of horse-care givers so I never have to worry a second about their welfare.
This past week has been a mini marathon for the crew. Although the work has been tedious at times and it has been a grind for all of us, I have enjoyed every minute of it. Up until yesterday when our newest crew member arrived (his name is Bird and he fits RIGHT in), we’ve just been working with a skeleton crew.
It’s hard to express in words the pride I have in this little group of folks. We had some major renovations to get through this week including completely turning over two houses on the ranch and doing some partial renovations. What this meant was that riding took a backseat…in fact, we soon realized it had to be taken off the table entirely. No matter. The crew took to their projects with the same enthusiasm and intensity as they take to excelling at horsemanship. In fact, each day, the crew found new ways to excel. We didn’t just renovate the houses. We renovated all outlying buildings. We literally made each one of these ranch properties look the best they have ever looked, maybe in the history of the ranch. This crew seems to be after my own heart, they have an eye for excellence and it’s not enough to do a job well done. No…they have to do one better. They aren’t looking to finish these jobs. They are looking to the next ones and then next ones. Why not just get everything knocked out the best it’s ever been? Then we can put all of this intensity back into riding because we know that the place is going to be so well set up that it will be a matter of staying on top of light maintenance rather than a matter of scheduling projects.
12 years ago when I first started here, Randy told us wranglers “It’s not how good you are at riding that impresses me. It’s how good you do at the jobs you don’t like to do that impresses me.” This crew exemplifies that. Except, here’s the kicker…it doesn’t matter if it’s scrubbing a toilet, cleaning out pack rat nests, doing dishes, any dirty job you can think of—this crew has the same smiles, the same laughter—in other words, you’d never know the difference between a job they liked or didn’t like because their good nature shines through just the same. I couldn’t be more impressed or proud.
I’m looking out the window and weatherman was right so far. It’s now a whiteout blizzard and the tops of the trees are starting to sway more violently by the minute. Temperature has dropped 10 degrees in the last hour. Wish the ponies well!
Till next time,
Des