I’m the oldest of seven sisters in Idaho. We all ride for Glenn Elzinga, our dad and boss on a 1700 acre ranch in “the middle of nowhere”. We fall a bit short of the old time cowboys riding for a big outfit, getting meager pay. Really, most of what we do is little stuff, like helping out with the cattle when we want to, or when Dad needs our help, and feeding our nine dogs and more cats than I care to count. We had about thirty goats for a while but finally our numbers have gone down to four due to a trip to the goat auction.
As far as riding for the brand, I guess that you could say we do. We might not ride every single day of our lives (sometimes it seems like we do), or mend fences for months on end (although we have ridden quite a few fences), or starve while a bunch of cows are eating in front of you (actually, some days on the range are done on an empty stomach, until we have the time to eat lunch), but we’re all helping out on Alderspring ranch.
Most of what I do that would be considered real “cowboying” is breaking horses (so far, I’m working my first one), riding on the range, and sorting cows. I’ve been the one really into the horse thing, but my sisters have been looking at getting some of their own to ride. Every other week, we have to go over to the “other side” (about half of our ranch in on the opposite side of the river from where we live) and get the our beef cattle over to our corral set up. Sorting comes in there, because Dad and I have to work through about 180 yearlings (some of the smaller ones have been moved to a certified organic ranch just outside of Salmon, Idaho for the winter) and find the most finished, with fat and muscle in the right places.
Our range is probably what I enjoy doing most, but don’t ask me how I like it at the end of a ten hour day. When we first moved here, both my younger sibling and I were pretty skittish about the rough country up there, and we didn’t go very often. My sister doesn’t ride as much as me now; she enjoys some other things, but we both go up there pretty regular as we are both older and braver. There is so much country up there (80 square miles), that now, three years after we bought the ranch and began leasing the range from the government, I still cross places I’ve never been before.
Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed my ramblings, and check back often for posts and pictures from Alderspring ranch!
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