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The Natural Horseman, Steve Stevens
The last month has been interesting. My Dad came out for a surprise visit and to help out on the ranch, keeping me in line. We watched the Olympics and preseason football.
While he was here, Amanda found out her grandfather passed. Amanda went to the funeral in Scottsdale, A.Z., and took the kids with her.
I had to stay back to care for the numerous horses, dogs and cats. We have chosen a beautiful path in life. Our goals are to help horses and people and to raise our children with good moral values and provide for them.
When choosing this lifestyle, you give up a lot of things that people take for granted. The hours can be crazy. You might have to stay up with a horse all night long colicing, the weather can be burning hot, freezing cold, or everything in between and livestock still has to be watched and cared for.
You can’t always leave at a moment’s notice for a great party, vacation or even your wife’s Grandfather’s funeral.
We chose this life because we had a dream to wake up in the morning and watch the sun rise over our own horses. We wanted our children to appreciate a hard day’s work and to have a life with animals. We wanted to know that whatever money we earned, we worked hard for.
As we spend twenty-four hours a day with many horses, and we see how they interact amongst each other. We get to appreciate their personalities and their qualities.
My dogs don’t have to be walked on a leash and we can see the stars at night.
While Amanda was gone, the house was quiet, eerily quiet, uncomfortably so. I thought it would be a nice break, but the lacking sounds of kids running, screaming and crying made life feel empty.
I saw some beautiful sunsets and storm clouds roll in and out over a few days. But that can all feel bland without your family to share it with.
I got a lot accomplished, but towards the end of the week we got a lot of rain.
So Amanda and the kids came back to mud.
For us, because we are so far from the cities we were raised in, I think it took Amanda a while to regroup, as it had been a long time since she had been to where she grew up.
For the first time, she was able to take our children to places that she had experienced as a child.
I haven’t been home to southern California in at least three years. It is a funny feeling when your home you once had isn’t your home anymore. When you are raising your children somewhere other than where your family and friends are, it can be an unusual feeling.
But this was all a part of our master plan. We gave up what gave us comfort, to strike out on our own. What once was just a little adventure has become so much more.
Our dedication to horses and people went from a potential occupation to a lifestyle.
I’m not here saying it is all peaches and cream.
Making a living outdoors in Texas can be challenging for the toughest of people—heat, rain, ice, wind, hail, lightning, tornadoes and floods.
But we keep moving forward because of the blue sky, watching our horses be able to run more than ten feet for feed time, the Texan spirit, and people, and, yes, most of all the strong Texas people who have become our friends, partners, and mentors.
No one ever said this life would be easy, but no one also ever stopped us from chasing rainbows.
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Goats Get To Work
One of my professors out at Texas Tech University always told us that we aren’t just raising cattle, we’re raising grass, because without grass there is no cattle business. The same applies to most livestock species and crops we seek to raise- without good land management, no good yield can grow.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Farm & Ranch
Acorn Toxicity
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Farm & Ranch
Silver Bluestems
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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