Floating means to smooth or shape horse’s teeth with a file (called a “float”). Unlike human teeth, horse’s teeth keep growing and cane become sharp. We do this so horses don’t have discomfort when eating.

Stephen and Lyndella. We’re leaving our dream of cattle ranching.

Enjoying dutch oven dinner with family during the 4th of July weekend.

Hi, my name is Lyndella and I live in beautiful Round Valley in Challis. My husband and I are first generation ranchers, learning and living a new life every day. We have been ranching now for more than 20 years in this valley. Ranching was a dream both of us had and were able to make come true. We are always open to inviting friends to our ranch to experience what we have grown to love…amidst the hard work, long hours and satisfaction of accomplishment.

In July, our daughter, a large animal veterinarian practicing in California, came to visit with her first child, Lochlan, who’s six month old. While she was here, I bribed her to come help vaccinate horses, shear llamas, check on pigs and take a quick run out to Copper Basin where our cattle range.

Getting to the ranch is always a challenge. Alicia and Lochlan arrived in Idaho Falls, then still had a 2 ½ hour drive to the ranch. Since Nana (that’s me) has a full week planned for them… we had steaks for dinner!!

First stop was Island Park, where we lease ground for heifers. We are hauling salt and mineral up for them. We also had horses and hay to leave at the cabin for family coming in that week. Alicia vacinated horses for me there. She loves doing dentistry on horses so she also floated several of the horses teeth the next morning. Nana took care of Lochlan and Alicia and Dad went for a horse back ride. I watched Lochlan scoot across the floor trying very hard to crawl.

The next stop was our ranch where we spent Monday relaxing.  Well, most of it!! We decided to shear the old llama once it cooled off a little. Very interesting trying to get Tractor, our old male, into a head catch in the cow barn!! But, we succeeded and sheared his very heavy fur coat.

Tuesday afternoon promised to be warm, so we got up early to vaccinate the horses and work on their teeth.

It’s always great having the kids and grandkids home to our ranch, as we love having visitors. The visits never really seem long enough though.

~ Lyndella

Black Angus cow and calf at sunset.

Hi! I’m Maggie. So glad you stopped by! If you come back often, you’ll get to meet many different women and families who share a passion for the Idaho cattle industry. Our stories are similar, but unique. There’s a lot of diversity in our industry and our people, but one common theme—a passion for raising cattle, eating beef and living this lifestyle.

Hereford cows grazing on summer pasture.

I grew up in a small Kansas community as a farmer’s daughter. Agriculture is in my blood and I always knew I wanted to be a part of the food and fiber industry. I just wasn’t always sure about how I would be involved. My interest in language and fine arts led me to study agricultural communications while in college. Now, my work involves telling the story of agriculture—and the people who raise our food—through writing, photography and design. My husband and I met in college and after graduating, we decided to return to his family’s operation. Now we’re raising cattle and kids in the Gem State. We feel very blessed to live on a ranch taking in God’s beauty every day, raising our kids to work hard and doing exactly what we love. It’s certainly not easy, but definitely worth it!

Love raising our kids on the ranch. Playing on the hay bales…

Our ranch raises registered Black Angus and Hereford cattle. Basically we are raising cows and calves, but our cattle are all purebred or seedstock. We breed the parent stock (females and bulls) to sell. Our bulls are sold to cow-calf producers to raise beef for our dinner tables. Most of our females are sold to other purebred breeders raising seedstock as well. Basically, we are raising the parents of the cattle that becomes the beef on your plate.

As a family, we enjoy showing our cattle. It’s a way to advertise the genetics we offer. We also like seeing our kids take responsibility for an animal and work together to get things done.

Our lives are busy and a little chaotic at times, but I am trying to simplify what I can and embrace the rest. I’m a mom like many of you who also juggle work and family life. It’s important my kids learn how to work hard, but we have fun too. Sports, showing cattle, 4-H, church and other activities fill up most of our free time when we’re not helping on the ranch. I love to cook, our oldest daughter loves to bake and I’ve been known to try a DIY project every now and then.

Our baby girl checking out the mamas and babies in the pasture outside our yard. Not going to lie—I love looking out our windows and seeing pastures full of cows.

So, if you stay tuned, I’ll be sharing some recipes and a little bit more about our life on the ranch.
~M

Hi there! Whether you’re a cattlewoman, beef consumer or just happened to stumble upon this blog, we’re so very happy to have you here! My name is Jessie, and ranching is in my blood. Literally. I’m the third generation to live and work on my family’s cattle ranch, which is about an hour outside of Boise. We have a cow-calf operation, so that means we focus on raising mamas and babies. The majority of our cows are black, but we’ve got a few red ones here and there.

A fresh baby from this past calving season.

I haven’t always lived on the ranch. In fact, I spent six years away, before coming home. I went to college and received a degree in Business Administration, and had a really great job directing the communications for a statewide interest/policy group that focuses solely on Idaho’s cattle industry. But I realized something was missing. After contemplating about what I should do, I finally realized the answer was pretty simple. I packed up my stuff, and relocated to the same small town I grew up in.

Overlooking the little spot I get to call “home.”

So far I’ve been home for seven months, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier. I find it so rewarding to know that each day our family business is in a better place because of the work I put in. Its especially important to keep this little ranch going and growing, because its the place where my own “someday family” will be raised. Speaking of which, these days when I’m not tasked with ranching, I spend my days wedding planning!

I plan on posting a little bit about everything; ranch happenings, recipes (more than likely of the beef variety), and what its like to have the life of a cattlewoman! I’m also currently working on a few DIY wedding projects; some of which, I’ll be sure to share!

Thanks again for stopping by, and be sure to check back often! J.