Life on a Working Ranch

The life of a cowboy (or cowgirl, as the case may be) has been consistently dramatized over the last several decades. Movies depict beautiful sunrises, cowbells rung to call everyone to meals, leisurely trail rides through sinuous mountain paths, and sleeping next to campfires that crackle and pop through the night. In reality, life on a working ranch is hard work, and though there are certainly enjoyable perks to living in the country, there are also considerable hardships.

The progression of the day depends largely on what the working ranch actually produces. If it specializes in the breeding, raising, and training of horses, then most of the morning and afternoon are spent in the saddle. If there are cows, the feeding usually takes most of the morning, and they must be cared for in the afternoon. Crops must be tended, eggs have to be gathered, and fences will be fixed lest the animals escape. Life on a working ranch is never without work, and everyone will pitch in if they want it to get done.

I grew up on the Rapid R Ranch in southern Kentucky, which is nestled in between ridges just south of Glasgow. It is a beautiful stretch of land – more than three hundred acres of lush grass, rolling hills, and rocky mountainsides. The entrance to our ranch is a solid metal gate that bares our brand, and a crushed gravel drive that leads up to the farmhouse. We have eight full-size barns, with twelve stalls in each, as well as four arenas, two roundpens, and several miles of trails that wound throughout the property. My father had inherited the ranch from his father, who had helped my great grandfather build it more than one hundred years ago. Obviously, there have been several additions made as time goes on, but it still boasts the old-fashioned architecture of that time.