Hfinn that is a nice slip. Like it.
Brumby Yep its been dry for a long time. We've been in the worst drought ever. Although they say this year is gonna be an El Nino year, (wetter than normal). In fact they are calling it the Godzilla El Nino. We'll see.
Cowboy crew letting the ponies catch air after climbing up from the flat. The flat has an elevation of about 4200 ft. Even though the flat is all part of our ranch it is actually within the city limits of Tehachapi. This can make for some interesting interactions on occasions. Town of Tehachapi down below.
Second air break, still climbing. Cara and Nichole with Sophia on the left. The eastern ridge with the windmills divides the Tehachapi valley from the Mojave desert. The cooler mountian air wants to run out to the hotter lower desert so it is always windy out there and most of the time on our flat too. Tehachapi is kind of groundzero for the wind industry and it is a major employer locally.
Nichole riding into the bowl. The ranch is big and big rugged mountainous country. We had 8 riders and we swept that whole place Fri afternoon. Besides the pigs already mentioned that Easton almost got roped, we saw alot of deer and a mountain lion, the 3 retired horses but no cows. The lion of course makes a guy worry. Finally at dusk and at the corrals we found two cows. Put them in the corrals, fed em and called it an evening. Next morning the entire herd is in the bowl. Go figure. We pretty much decided that our ranch has a portal to another cow dimension. I'm not so much worried about the lion now. Saw the retired horses Sat evening and the 30 plus yr old tough as nails mustang had claw marks on his face. You don't get to be 30 plus years old in the mustang world by being a wuss. I imagine that cat is laying dead somewheres with his lights stomped out.
Some of our replacement heifers we're keeping back. These heifers were all born in March/15. While we don't have alot of grass due to the drought, what we do have is obviously real rich. If there was a Cow Cosmo magazine, #113, here in the front, could be the cover girl. She'll go 750 lbs. We sell our calves at around 400 lbs. So I never have followed one all the way through from birth to leather. IF it rains we will keep these heifers to add to the cowherd and sell their dad. If it doens't rain by end of Nov we will sell the heifers and keep the bull.
