Annie Rides Wild
Annie was worried; I could see it by the way she rode. She was just a tad rigid in her focused attention in trying to stay with it. It’s what we all do when we know the horse under us could easily blow up. She knew the young mare Maggie would likely want…
Under Light of Mid-Night
Dear Friends This Tuesday Morning: 2:20 AM: I flicked the barn lights on, and the new LEDs instantly burned bright (there are some things about technology that has made our lives better, it seems). Our 130-foot long barn structure is now easily illuminated from one end to the other. I…
A Heart of Husbandry
Dear Friends My legs were on fire from the chem burn. Even worse, my eyes stung and the tears that rolled out of them fogged my vision. I squinted, straining to see the end of the field, but couldn’t quite make it out. The five-gallon bucket I was carrying was almost empty—I wondered how many…
A Midnight Clear
Dear Friends Thirty Christmases. That’s how many it’s been on Alderspring Ranch. 1993: It was just Caryl and I that first year, huddled around a tree in our 350 square foot tin shack we called home. Without the wood stove that often glowed red on a frigid and brittle winter night the little plumbing we…
Hooves in a Hard Spot
This story is by daughter Melanie, featuring the mare Jimmie and an accident on the range this summer. We carry firearms on the range for a few reasons, but one of the most important is a situation where an animal has been severely injured to the point where treatment would be futile, and subjection to…