Enjoying the Snow!

      Well several people have asked about how we feed the horses in the winter. You know that during the summer, the ranch has a dozen feeders full all hay every day of the best stuff we can find.  But in the winter time, free-feeding like that can cause lots of problems with the local wildlife. You can imagine feeder after feeder of green, ready hay would be a huge lure if you were a deer or elk looking for food sources during the winter months. And perhaps if it was one deer, that wouldn’t be an issue.  But when herds of a hundred elk (many close in size to some of our horses) move in to your feeding area—you’re out of luck! (And hay…and money….) It’s also dangerous for the wildlife who won’t move the herd around like they should and become dependent on a human-provided food source. We’ve had several years here at the ranch where elk move in with the horses for a few months and push them off the feeders. And that’s no good!

      So to avoid this problem with the “locals”, we drop hay daily for the herd with enough spread to give everyone lots of room to get their fill. As you can see—they can see that tractor coming!

We love these fuzzy faces!

Of course, some think it tastes better right off the tractor….

And others think it tastes best RIGHT off the tractor! (Any surprise this is Navajo? Ya…that’s what we said, too.)

And even on a chilly day—basking under a Colorado blue sky makes everyone around here smile!

That sunshine gives you cabin fever and as often as we can, we take to the mountains—

--even in the deep snow! (Anybody seen Rocky? Oh, there he is.)

The ranch dogs love when mom and day get out for a snowshoe! They also love to stop in the middle of the trail.

Like we mentioned before—the Williams Fork is still flowing strong. Often there are fishermen standing out here in their waders—now THOSE are some hardcore fishermen!

A little snow on the nose is good for the soul. (Did we lose Rocky again?)

And the fresh air and a little exercise is good for everyone!

Just another day in paradise!

A member of our ranch family recently took a plane ride around the county and caught some amazing shots from above. We had to share this gorgeous perspective of our daily views.

And here are some shots right at the ranch!

Parshall and the Williams Fork

It sure looks different in the snow, but can you pick out the familiar points?

I bet many of you can see your “house” from here!

Thanks Lisa for sharing these beautiful photos! What else can we say when the picture below says it all?