A Winter Escape

During our busy summers, guests ask us, "What do you do in the winter time?"  Last week Jeff and Denise took a few days off and headed south to Santa Ynez, California seeking refuge from seven inches of snow and ice at the Smith Valley ranch.

Why Santa Ynez?  We wanted to see "Early Californios Skills of the Rancho", an event showcasing classical California horsemanship.  These skills were practiced in the 1700 and 1800's on the ranchos of early missions.

A capable team in the alley sorting competition.

A great example of Vaquero gear and attire.

It turns out that we also ran into a lot of guest ranch friends who came to see great horses, ridden well, and decorated with lots of silver (horse jewelry).

Mike Giacapuzzi on his awesome horse preparing to rope in the Sort and Rope competition.

TEMPTATION!  A collection of classic silver mounted spade bits.

A side benefit of our trip was that we missed the worst wind storm to hit Smith Valley since 2001.  Blair was feeding hay to cows from the back of a flatbed truck during the worst of the windstorm.  Blair, 600 pounds of baled hay and 3 dogs were blown off the back of the truck during the powerful wind storm.

Was part of Blair's trouble his driver?

Blair and Haley's dog kennel was blown into their pond, and thankfully, the dogs escaped unharmed. The wind blew a neighbor's hay barn roof over the power line and onto the highway.

The worst windstorm since 2001 and we missed it.

All this happened while Denise and I were hundreds of miles away watching buckaroos (Californian for cowboy) sort and rope cattle while a playful breeze rustled through the Live Oak trees.

Careful cattle handling is the trademark of the this style of stockmanship.

This powerful storm melted the snow in Smith Valley and left many feet of badly needed snow in the Sierra.  Denise and I came home to cows happily eating grass that had been snow covered when we left.  The family members that stayed home handled the weather event fine without us.  We should go on vacation more often!

Jeff on vacation.