Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

In the last month, Buddy has changed jobs... hallelujah! He is no longer working an hour and half from the house (weather permitting) but now working on a 500+ acre Longhorn ranch that's only 20 minutes from home. It's certainly a change from running heavy equipment all day but I'm loving having him so close to home. Yesterday morning I went with him to go feed so I grabbed my camera...






Meet Hank... a wild turkey hen that came up to the ranch last summer and decided to stay. She is Buddy's compadre. She rides around in the Mule with him, sitting right next to him on the seat. She's not stupid..she knows to stay in the Mule or she'd be attacked by the donkeys. Each pasture has their own set of donkeys. Their job is to keep predators away...and they do their job well.

You will notice that when it came time for me to leave..there was Hank..in the back of my truck.

Now this precious little girl is Latte Frosty's Star..otherwise known as Button, which is the name Buddy has also given our newest granddaughter. She has a calf named after her. She is one of twins which the mother abandoned. The other twin is a bull calf who is much larger. The little heifer calf is a free martin, meaning she is sterile because in utero, all the hormones or testosterone go to the bull calf. She will still grow big and get the traditional Longhorns but she will be sterile. Once she's weaned from the bottle, RiverBend Farm will be her new home.

Here's the bull calf...he's much bigger.

These next few pictures are taken as we went through and fed. Once I get off into the back pastures, I'll take pictures of the others.

Check this guy out..he's only 18 months old!...the horse, not the bull. The bull in the above picture is two years old.

Here's the colt's guard donkey...isn't he cute?



There are about 250+ head of cattle, horses and donkeys and it's in Buddy's job description to learn all their names. Yep, that's right...they ALL have names.


Happy Trails...