The late, great Smart Chic Olena, rest in peace. According to owner Bill Richardson, the 1985 stallion who has offspring earnings topping $10 million in the reining, reined cow horse and cutting arenas, spent his final months grazing peacefully in the pasture on Babcock Ranch next to his longtime mare friend, Brooksinic. Smart Chic Olena was euthanized on June 24. This amazing horse did a lot of things to be proud of in the 27 years of his life....

A couple of months ago we found some large pieces of petrified wood on our property. No one knew it was worth anything. But then our fencer Jeremy told us that he once sold a big chunk of it for a lot of money. We did some research and found out that lots of people will buy petrified wood, either for decoraton, to craft something, or to try and sell it for me. Truckloads of pieces of petrified wood are lying in our forest and on our pastures....

There is one big question that frequently pops up during my horsemanship lessons. How does loving our horse combine with us having to be the alpha at all times when we are with our horse? Being the alpha is often associated with bossing the horse around, or even be cruel and hit him all the time. Many think that it means being mean to our horse and constantly showing him who is boss making him feel small and stupid. However, the truth is far...

Say hello to Beans, the newest puppy on Vaquera Ranch! Beans is a very pretty and talkative German shepherd. She has a silver belly and legs, and the rest of her body is black. The pink collar around her neck suits her nicely. It was hard thinking of a name for her. At first we just went with Blacky, but that seemed too dull for such a dog, so Beans it was. The 9 week old puppy fits into our dog pack well. Balto, the leader of the pack,...

A week ago we hired Angel, a 15 year old girl who loves horses as much as Wanda did when she was young. We met Angel’s mother at the gas station, and after she was told about our ranch she told us that her daughter is smitten with equines and would love to help out here. So at the start of Summer vacation Angel came over and worked for a while, seeing how it was. And now, she comes 4 times a week, for the whole day! Angel usually helps...