Angela Willis Is Rodeo Bound!

Angela learned how to ride a horse this past weekend. She was nervous at first but eventually she got the hang of it. We put her on a quarter horse named Smurf (perfect name for Angela's horse). When she first saddled up Smurf got excited which made Angela a little nervous, but once Smurf settled down everything was fine. We rode out a couple of miles to Long Lake (which isn't a lake at all) and Angela took the reins and handled the horse by herself. She had her first experience being saddle sore, which is never fun but she survived. Angela's brother Andrew also rode and did very well. Towards the end of the ride he even got the horse to gallup. It was a great trip and we were very proud of Angela.

Round Up #2 June 22-23 2009

The second roundup of 2009 was a lot of fun and filled with many surprises. The biggest surprise of all is that Momma Shellie rode a horse!!! After being married to a Chandler cowboy (BIG D) for 28 years she finally got on a horse. Not only did she ride a horse but she actually helped round up the heard, it was a sight to see and we are all extremely proud. The newly weds, Ryan and Dallyn, came and worked hard. Dallyn became an expert rider and even vaccinated every calf. Overall we branded 60+ calves in little less than two hours. We all got dirty and had a lot of fun. We were sad that Angela, Kaitlyn and the Hammar's weren't there but we will get them there eventually. Big D once again was the star of the show by roping every calf and showing his wranglers off to Momma Shell.

We can't wait until next Spring for the next roundup.

Southern Cross Roundup April 22 - 24th, 2009

Big D took Jon and Ryan to New Mexico to roundup the McPhaul heard. They branded, vaccinated and castrated over 130 calves within 4 hours. Two days were spent rounding up the cattle that were spread across the large 46,000 acre ranch. Dale and Jon realized how large the ranch really was with their 4 hour ride from the east end to the main corrals. Their job was to round up 8 cows, they found 4, let 1 go and lost the remaining 3. It was very funny. Ryan was charged by a large angus bull that rammed his horse. The horse didn't see it coming because the horse is missing his right eye.

Overall it was a very fun and successful roundup. Big D showed everyone that he is still the Chandler Roping Champion.