You know how somedays just drag on and there is always something more exciting you could be doing? Last Friday was one of those days; all the work was caught up on and the outside world was calling. It was a gorgeous day out. 35 degrees (yes, that equals gorgeous in January Nebraska), no wind and the prettiest snowfall. Big flakes gently floated to the ground and after a full day of snowfall there less than a quarter inch of snow on the ground.
My friend and co-worker at the Sandhills Cattle Association had just gotten her new camera in the mail the day before. Naturally, we had talked about it during the day and as five o'clock drew near we were both getting a little restless. A plan was formed, as they often are on restless days, we would drive out to my family's ranch to play around with the new camera taking shots of the horse herd and the cows near to the house.
We pull up to the house and I ran inside to change out of my work clothes and we hopped in the caking pickup. I scouted for the horses as we bounced across the pasture where the seven horses are wintering; they were found near the windmill. I parked Ole Brown and walked a short distance to the horses. They were feeling a little fresh (typical for a nice day) and they all startled a little at the sound of the shutter.
After I gave Twister (my main rodeo mount) a good belly scratch we loaded the dogs up in the pickup and headed out to see if we could find more willing subjects, our herd of not quite yet yearling heifers. We pulled up to the autogate the heifers left their hay thinking it was round to of distillers and cracked corn, you could say they were a little disappointed when we didn't drive to the bunks, but instead shut the pickup off to wander through them. They all crowded around us as Michelle was trying to get the right aperture settings on the camera. The young heifers bucked around us as we walked through them, stopping to snap shots as they posed. They were fed up in behind an old homestead grove of cedar and cottonwood trees; pretty soon we were playing peek-a-boo as they trailed us through the pasture.
As the temperature dropped and the sun slipped below the horizon the heifers trotted away from us and our photoshoot was over for the day. It was a great adventure and we got some great shots along the way. I will be getting my new camera in the mail later this week; I am looking for another great day capturing aspects of the ranch life.