The Green's Ranch

Chief

Between you and me, we take some pride in saying we live smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, and we are close.  But the Green's Ranch?  They're
closer; twenty-five miles down the road and four miles down a dirt road.

It was a day to meet friends of the family and learn about ranching -- and, unexpectedly, make a couple of boys dreams come true.  But that is putting the Bobcat before the horse.

Green's Ranch is owned by Brian & Lynne Green.  We learned that real ranches rarely have fancy names.  Just Green's Ranch.  And, from what Brian told us, it will probably be called Green's Ranch for a number of years after he dies.

The first creature to meet us was Moo.  Moo is a border collie with a love for children and a truckload of energy.  The boys were tickled when she chased their snowballs and caught them.  They never tired of each other.  And they got equally wet and dirty -- though the boys were allowed into the kitchen while Moo had to wait in the front room to dry.

Lynne and Brian welcomed us into their bright and cheerful home.  Lynne fixed up a ranch-sized lunch for us.  We sat around a big square wooden table with benches.  In the middle was an enormous Lazy Susan loaded with delightful foods.  I must admit, that my family has learned to not expect too much from me in the way of food.  So their lunch was a real treat.

We also learned that when you have lots of stuff turning (because what child doesn't like to spin a Lazy Susan?) with spoons sticking out, and six tall drinks around the table, you have to call out 'Spoooooon!' to ensure you don't create even more chaos.

Brian showed us how they use wind and solar energy to draw water from the ground.  It was far too cold to be tempted to dive in.

Brian teaching the boys about the windmill.

The reservoir of water in a huge metal vat.

We had a lesson in getting to know horses, too.  Our first was from Starfire and Chief.  They are Mustangs, formerly wild from Wyoming.  Brian got them from the Bureau of Land Management which is trying to reduce the numbers of wild horses in the area.

Brian says that he uses the horses' natural curiosity to tame them.  These particular ones are tame, not broken.  

Indeed, they are curious.  Starfire, with her ears back, had mixed feelings about our presence, but even she couldn't resist the temptation to sniff Devin when his back was turned.

Chief was more frank in his curiosity and willingly approached an outstretched hand. 

We met the sheep and a few of the cattle.

These sheep shed their own wool.

We had a chance to feed protein cakes to more horses.

Uncertain about us at first, they soon were so enthusiastic we were all but pushed out of the corral.

There were too many of us -- and it was too cold -- to drive around the ranch.  To the boys' delight, Brian settled on adventuring with the Bobcat next.  They couldn't believe their good luck when he looked at them and asked, "Who would like to drive a Bobcat?"

Before two minutes passed, the boys had received instruction on forward, backward, shovel up & down, and they were off.

Hands down, the highlight of their day.