Sept. 17, 2015 - What to bring on your cowboy adventure

Horse out on the trail. Jackets can be tied to the back to the
saddles as shown above. 

We started our guest season again in mid-August and have been in full-force since - meeting many great people and working hard on the ranch.

One question that we commonly get before visitors come to Kara Creek is, "What should I bring?". Let us share our thoughts on what you should bring:

All of our saddles are western riding saddles. 

1. A cap or hat - When you are out in the weather, a hat can keep the sun off our face or the rain off your head. Don't worry if you don't have a cowboy hat, a cap or other type of hat is just as good. And of course, we can take you shopping to get that cowboy hat too! Additionally, it is a good idea to use sunscreen daily to keep from getting sunburned. 

2. A variety of clothes - The weather in Wyoming can change quickly and can change many times in a day. It is best to have a variety of clothes you can layer. For example a tank top or short sleeved shirt with some long-sleeved or light jackets to layer over top. When out riding, there are saddle strings on the saddles that will allow you to tie a light jacket or two on your horse. 

3. Boots! - It doesn't matter what kind of boot you have but you should have some sort of closed toe boot to ride in. When you are out moving cows you need something to protect your feet!

Boots are a necessity! 

4. Excitement for adventure - On a ranch, the days aren't scheduled and things can change throughout the day. No matter what we are doing or where we are going, there is sure to be some sort of adventure. Be prepared for whatever the day brings and wherever you and your horse are headed!

When you stay at the ranch, we provide all the necessities including bedding, blankets, towels and saddles. If you have anything you would like to add on what to bring - please feel free to share it with others here. 

Until next time!

August 3, 2015 - Meet the newest horses to the bunch!

Meet Fritz!

A week ago, Cassie, Coy, Kyle and Bug headed to Billings Livestock Auction in search of a  few new ranch horses and boy, oh boy, did we find some good ones!

Billings Livestock is one of the oldest sale barns in our region and is about the only one in a 500 mile radius that has monthly horse sales. Famous breeders, local ranchers and trainers bring their horses to the sale each month and quality is not lacking.

Meet Matt!

During this specific trip, we found 6 horses! Yes, 6 NEW horses! When the crew called the boss, he was a little surprised and shocked that we had purchased 6 horses but after he heard about them, he was just as excited as we were.

Here, let us introduce a few of them to you:

Meet Fritz - Fritz came to us from New York! She was born and raised in New York and then implanted into Montana before we took her home. She is bred to the famous Hancock horse and nothing short of flashy. With her long main and tail, she is beautiful!

Meet Punch!

Meet Punch - Punch is a nice white horse. He came from a ranch in western Wyoming where he was roped on, branded on and moved cows on! He is a true ranch horse and likes to travel out.

Meet Matt - Matt is the younger, inexperienced one of the bunch but has lots of potential. He came from a breeder in Montana is a son of Smart Mate and a grandson of Docs Hickory and Freckles Playboy. He has a good handle, but needs some miles. He is going to be  great horse as he matures!

You all can meet the rest of the new horses, Gary, Rusty and Frisco this Fall when you get to the ranch!

Until next week...

July 17, 2015 - Getting Work Done, Cowboy Style

Coy roping the calves. 

Yesterday we had our last, last branding (gosh, I hope!). We have been saying this is our last branding for quite sometime now, but for some reason, we continue to add more cattle and thus have to brand more calves. Right now some of the calves weight about 300 pounds, so we better be done!

OH gosh....he's a big one!

While watching the branding, some thoughts about being a cowboy (or cowgirl!) came to light. Being a cowboy requires you to be able to handle anything that comes your way and be able to adjust. At the ranch, we always joke that we start the day with a plan A but end on plan D or C, or Z for that matter. This way of being couldn't be more true for the cowboy life.

On this day, our day went like this:

1. The boss says, "Oh, by the way, we are branding today". We say, "uh-oh, we better get ready!". After shuffling through the leftover branding items including shots and ear tags, we had the material in hand to get the job done. You see, we thought we were done with branding season a month ago and put everything away!

Kyle says, "Austin, are we done yet"! 

2. We gather the cattle and sort off the calves. This is no problem at all, as we do this all the time. Ok...things are looking good for the day.

3. We go in to rope the calves and realize that not only are they big, but that all the green grass sticking up out of the ground isn't helping much with our ability to rope the calves two hind feet. So after many throws, we get our roping perfected and start bringing out calves...and the fun begins!

And the job is done and the cows head out. 

4. So the calves are HUGE calves (I mean really, really big) and it took everyone to get a hold of them! There was many words said and some ouches here and there but we found a way to get them held while they were branded. It took quite a few times and quite a few people to figure out the best way to get a hold of them, but we did finally succeed.

Though things didn't go as normally planned, we found a way to do it and got the job done. Lesson learned from the day - don't get stuck in plan A and always give it your ALL whenever you do anything.

Until next week....

July 6, 2015 - Summer time at Kara Creek!

Many people ask us what do we do in July....we are typically closed for guests as it gets pretty warm outside, but that doesn't mean the fun stops!

For July, this usually means rodeos, BBQ's and riding to keep an eye on the cattle to ensure they are in the correct spots, the bulls are with the cows and all calves are happy and healthy.

This last weekend, was an especially busy weekend. It all started with the Boss, Monte's birthday!

The new Kara Creek saloon!

The BOSS!

The entire Kara Creek crew rounded up and threw him a party. Shanna helped cook the food, Kris made sure the yard was in nice shape, Ernie put the final touches on the Kara Creek saloon and Kyle, Coy and Austin made sure the beer was cold. This was a pretty special birthday for the Boss too....he turned the big 60! Neighbors, friends and family gathered for good food, good company and a good party in the new Kara Creek saloon. We even had live music by Gregg Seim and Sam Hanzlick!

Following the birthday party, we all headed to Belle Fourche Roundup in Belle Fourche, South Dakota to enjoy the annual 4th of July rodeo. This is one of the best rodeos for our area and draws some of the best cowboys and cowgirls from all over the world where they compete in a variety of events, including bareback riding, bronc riding, bull riding, barrels and roping. Plus they have an amazing fireworks show after the rodeo.

Bronc Riding at the Belle Fourche rodeo

So though we may be closed for guests, we are all still here!

Though we truly enjoy our work and what we do on the ranch, it's nice to get away and enjoy some of our local activities in the area. It's a time for us to catch up with friends and family  and kick our heels up!

Stay tuned until next week!

Branding, a Springtime Tradition

June 24, 2015 - Branding....one of our main ranch activities in the spring! Guests, family and friends gather with us in the springtime to brand all the baby calves that were born over the winter months. This is not only a time where there is much work to be done, but also a time to get together and enjoy the nice weather and have some fun. In the area that we live, branding is like a holiday that everyone looks forward to. Funny how in our neck of the woods, our work is our fun!

In this first blog post, we are going to share a little on how we go about branding the over 1000 head of baby calves we have.

2014 Kara Creek Branding Crew - Kokesh Ranch

1. Have a good crew. Though this picture (right) is from 2014, this reflects the kind of crew needed at branding time. At Kara Creek, we break our brandings into many brandings to better accommodate how we get cattle out to summer pasture, but even a small branding needs some good help! At any time, we usually brand between 50 to 100 head of calves. The guests that come visit us in the summer time, also get to actively participate in the brandings and become part to the crew as well!

2. Get some good ropers! At Kara Creek, we do things the traditional way and rope and drag each calf to the fire. The calves are in a large branding pen and 2 - 3 ropers enter at a time to rope the calf by both back feet and drag to the fire.

Luc Roping at Kara Creek Branding

In the summer time, many people get the opportunity to try out roping. And many of our guests have become great ropers from all the practice they get! At the ranch, we spend a lot of time getting our horses trained on the branding pen and have ended up with quite a few go-to horses at branding time!

3. Make sure you have some calf wrestlers. Once the calves are roped and the roper begins the drag them out, two people will wrestle the calf and hold it down. Now this isn't a typically wrestling match, but more of an art. Everyone that wrestles learns the appropriate way and getting the calf down can be done fairly effortlessly.

The majority of the time, the primary wrestlers are the "youngsters" as when you age, you can get promoted to other jobs, such as giving shots, roping, branding or implanting the calves. Once the calf is on it's side, one person holds their head and one person holds their feet while the necessary tasks are done.

Calf wrestling at Kara Creek branding at Snook Ranch

4. Have fun! After the branding, the tradition is to have a good traditional dinner of grilled burgers, or other BBQ along with a variety of salads and great desserts.

After a long winter, friends and neighbors use this time as a social event and get caught up with each other!





We are very fortunate to have had such a great group this spring to help us get all the calves branded and are already looking forward to next year! Until next week....

June 18, 2015

So...we are joining the world of technology....we are actively on Facebook, but sometimes you just need space for a few more words! So Kara Creek Ranch is going blogging. On here, we will keep you all posted on happenings at the ranch - serious and funny things going on - as well as provide a bit more history about the ranch and our family! We are looking forward to this and hope you all are too! Stay tuned!