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Weather in nearby Clifton, AZ (Our weather is ~7° cooler)  Fair, 86 °F UPCOMING EVENTS Western Art Workshop Erosion Control Workshop #4 | Double Circle Ranch is pure gold this year. We have fields of sunflowers stretching as far as you can see. Golden eye fills in the ground around the tall sunflowers with more shining gold flowers. It is a sight to see. We always have some golden eye and sunflowers, but they seem to run in cycles. This year we have hit the “pot of gold” for sure. It’s absolutely gorgeous!  Sunflowers and Golden Eyes Cover the Hills  Sunflowers Blooming On The Ranch  Working Ranch Guest Forrest and Tractor Our friend Forrest is back at the Double Circle Ranch as a working guest. He is the most helpful thing since pockets came into style – always handy. Not only does he ride and herd cattle, gather any stragglers, and feed horses, he runs a tractor and backhoe, does carpentry, electric, and plumbing and helps on solar and fencing projects. He is flying through a work list that would intimidate most people – and having fun doing it. We are winding up projects we thought might be in the “to do” list for another year. Hurray!!! Forrest is here for a whole month. Wonder what would happen if his return flight ticket to California got “lost.” We wouldn’t mind shanghaiing him for another month! His wife might not be too pleased with that deal though. There seems to be a slightly different philosophy about horses between cowboys and buckaroos. Cowboys value their horses and take care of them. They are the carpenter’s equivalent of a good saw and hammer – tools to be used and well taken care of. Buckaroos come from the old Spanish horsemanship school. They too value their horses as working tools – but they go a little further. As the new Double Circle buckaroo told me yesterday, cowboys have horses to work cattle. Buckaroos work cattle to train horses. He said that if a man could make one or two GOOD horses in his lifetime, he was a success and had accomplished something valuable. Now that is a horseman’s philosophy!  Silver Bridlehorse Bit Getting back to the differences I’ve observed between the traditional cowboys and the buckaroo we’ve hired to work on our cattle ranch, here’s what I’ve noticed about their horse riding gear. Cowboy saddles, bridles, etc. tend to be basic and functional, good quality but not fancy. Buckaroo gear also is good quality but has a lot more flash – lots of silver, tooling, etc. Some buckaroo bridles are absolutely a work of art – but are still put on a horse’s head and used long hours. Cowboy tapaderos are generally plain leather. They may have two pair. One would be sheep skinned lined for winter taps and one unlined for summer use. Some are made of rawhide. Buckaroo taps are fancy with long sides almost like a parade saddle would have. Cowboys tend to carry shorter ropes than buckaroos and are less likely to have a hand braided reata in their war bag.  Snaffle Bridle with Horsehair Mecate Cowboy bits start with a bosal with a basic snaffle and run to various curb bits – usually plain. Buckaroo bits also start with bosal, and include a hackamore, a snaffle bit and a “bridle horse” bit or two. Their bridle horse bits may be spade bits with ornate engraved silver. A good buckaroo bridle bit is an expensive thing – could cost a horse or even thousands of dollars.  Bosal and Mecate Hackamore  Arizona State Butterfly - Two Tailed Swallowtail We had butterflies coming to the new butterfly garden even before we could get the plants in the ground! Marceline was able to identify 18 species in just over an hour in the butterfly garden. I am still at the yellow, blue, or spotted butterfly id stage. Guess I had better buy a good butterfly guide asap! Here is what we have so far. Everyone is invited to come sit on one of the benches and relax amid the flowers and butterflies. Two-tailed Swallowtail  Butterfly Garden Before Work Began Our community butterfly garden is done!!! Almost – we ran out of mulch. Thanks to Adriane Grimaldi’s garden design and planning, we planted 75+ butterfly nectar and host plants. The butterflies were checking out the garden while we were still planting. It is a thing of beauty, and it will only get better as plants grow and spread. Doug and Crystal put 2 benches in so people can sit and watch the butterflies. Our photography class participants will be able to get some great close-up photos – and our hikers and horseback riders can just relax and be surrounded by flowers and butterflies. We had a lot of help and donations on this project. Boyce-Thompson Arboretum donated plants. Our local Home Depot discounted the benches and waterlines and donated plants. Central Arizona Butterfly Association provided info and sent Adriane and Marceline to help identify butterflies here on Eagle Creek and pick a good garden site. Plus our friends and neighbors donated more plants and helped put them in the ground. Adriane and Marceline saw 26 types of butterflies here in a weekend – so I expect to have a quite a butterfly show for guests and neighbors here at the Double Circle. Thanks to everyone!!!  Butterfly Garden - Completed  Butterfly Garden During Construction We recently hired a Nevada buckaroo here on the Double Circle Ranch. I am learning the differences between the Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona cowboys we usually have working at the Double Circle Ranch and a buckaroo. And there are a lot of differences! These are some observations of mine and are certainly not true in all cases. Many cowboys have adopted some buckaroo trends and vice versa. Of course, the country dictates what gear to use also. But this is what I am seeing here at the ranch as far as their clothing. Cowboys wear the traditional cowboy hat known to everyone who has ever watched a Western on TV. Buckaroos wear a flat-brim, flat-crowned hat. Cowboys are more likely to wear batwing or shotgun chaps – buckaroos more likely to wear fancy, long fringed chinks called armedas. Cowboys may wear a belt or suspenders – generally a belt -while buckaroos prefer suspenders. Cowboys may use short or tall boots – buckaroos seem to prefer the tall boots.  Cattle Range Greenin' Up Finally the rain is falling on the Double Circle Ranch. It is beginning to look like Ireland instead of Arizona – lots of shades of green. It always strikes me as a miracle that this country goes from brown to green so quickly and completely with a little help from the monsoon rains. Now will be a good time to see how well our erosion control structures are working. We have rain water – and we are slowing it down so the water can filter into the ground. I am very thankful to our volunteers, Dryland Solutions, Inc., and the grant fund people at Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission who have helped us construct over 80 erosion structures. Double Circle Ranch just keeps getting better. If you’re interested in learning more about erosion control, join us at one of our free Erosion Control Workshops. Another one is coming up this October.  Antelope Buck The antelope reintroduction program in Apache-Sitgreaves forest has been a success. More antelope were located here after populations were low, and they have done well. Double Circle Ranch manages for good forage and wildlife habitat for all species. Plus, over 10,000 acres of the ranch were treated with prescribed burning and juniper thinning in projects partnering with US Forest Service, Arizona Game and Fish, NRCS , and others. This opened wildlife corridors that stretch from Double Circle Ranch’s rolling grasslands in our lower country to alpine meadows in our higher country. The combined efforts have resulted in a healthy antelope population. There is even a buck antelope hunt this year – a sure sign of increased antelope numbers. I enjoy watching the antelope. I expect that with continued good management practices I will be watching antelope at Double Circle ranch for years to come.  Double Circle Antelope  Mexican Grey Wolf in Yellowstone - photo by Tom Whetten Twice this week I have seen glimpses of a canine. I am still not sure if there are two wolves of different ages/sizes or just odd-acting coyotes here in the pasture with our cattle. The one I saw yesterday was big for a coyote and didn’t move like a coyote. But the sun was in my eyes and I couldn’t tell for sure. Also, I had my border collie young dog with me and figured I had better get her away – just in case. She would be a tasty dinner for a wolf. At any rate, I didn’t go closer to look – so I am still not sure if it was a coyote or a wolf. Today, driving the 4-wheeler to the horse/cow pasture, a grey streak ran across the road in front of me. I stopped and looked but it had vanished. It didn’t run and stop and look back like coyotes frequently do – it vanished. I have no idea how I could not see the critter when it had just been 10 feet in front of me. This one was much smaller than the one yesterday. It certainly could have been a coyote, size wise. But it didn’t really look quite like a coyote. But again I didn’t get a good look. I’ll just keep my eyes open. We have seen wolves here several times. So these certainly could be more wolves. I don’t want to report a wolf sighting to the Forest Service or Fish and Wildlife until I know for sure that I am seeing wolves and not coyotes. Those folks have enough work to do without going on a false ID call.  Mexican Grey Wolf in Yellowstone - photo by Tom Whetten  Summer Monsoons Well, monsoon season is back again at Double Circle Ranch. The east part of the ranch seems to have had some rain, but the rest of the ranch is still too dry. We have had lots of wind, lightening, and thunder, but the rain seems to be falling just west of the main part of the ranch. San Carlos Apache reservation on our western border should really be turning green – they have had lots of good rainfall there. We really depend on summer monsoons for most of the year’s precipitation. It is critical for forage growth, refilling dirt tanks, recharging springs, and keeping water flowing in all our streams. Everything from Leopard frogs to bull elk needs the summer rains. Last year the monsoons just frizzled out. I think they are just getting a slow start this year. I am counting on lots of water gracing our landscape any day now. Heck – I don’t even mind the sticky mud that comes with the monsoons. I will be glad to break out the rubber mud boots!  Nephew Derek Repairing the Tractor Doug’s youngest nephew Derek is here at the Double Circle Ranch visiting and working. He originally came for 3 weeks, but we talked his parents into leaving him an extra month. As a 15-year old city kid, he is by no means an experienced hand. BUT what he lacks in experience he sure makes up for in attitude. Everything we have had him do he has done without complaining. He has to be shown –once- and picks things up right away. We are so far behind on what Doug calls the XXX work that Derek hasn’t gotten to do the fun stuff like herding cattle and riding horses yet. He has been changing oil, greasing equipment, stacking hay, pulling water pipe, repairing leaks, hauling and unloading materials, replacing diesel motors with solar well pumps, patching old fence, etc. He has learned to use caulk guns, grease guns, wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and saws and can now drive a tractor and a straight stick pick up. All these skills are sadly absent in most teenage city kids – ranch kids have to learn all these and more skills early. I need Derek to help with cattle too – so I hope Doug can spare him soon. It sure is good to have an extra set of hands here at the Double Circle Ranch! Hope Derek returns next summer. Here’s a photo and a comment from ranch owner Doug Dressler, who participated in the Ranch Photo Workshop.
Here’s a photo and a comment from Carol Wien, who participated in the Ranch Photography Workshop.
Here’s a photo and a comment from Ingrid Curry, who participated in the Ranch Photo Workshop.
 Crystal and Buckaroo Michael Double Circle Ranch is happy to welcome Michael Lee and Crystal Bennett to the ranch. Michael is a Nevada buckaroo and brings many years of horsemanship as well as cattle experience to the ranch. Crystal is a people person with skills in guest ranch operations and cooking. Plus she is a massage therapist – which is good news for my old joints and muscles. As a team, Michael and Crystal are a great addition to the ranch. We are looking forward to working with both of them! Are you looking for a working ranch vacation where you can be a real cowboy or cowgirl ranch hand, herding cattle and helping out with ranch work on a historic working cattle ranch? Our friend Cande came all the way from Florida last week for her working vacation, and we all had a great time! Double Circle Ranch has a lot of work to do every day. The Texas Longhorns are herded almost daily for forage improvement and predator – friendly grazing. Salt blocks are moved daily to treat old forage areas. We have waterlines to put in, drinkers to install, wildlife ramps to put on troughs, fences need patched, butterfly gardens need preparing, erosion control workshops materials need hauled, bird surveys need done – the list is endless. So if you’re looking for a working ranch vacation, working on the historic Double Circle for a week or a month, we want to hear from you! Unlike other organizations that expect you to pay for your working vacation or eco-vacation, we don’t charge you to work for us! We’ll put you up in the bunkhouse and we’ll feed you. Your wages are wide-open spaces, fresh clean air, and feeling good after putting in an honest day’s work. We can take one person or a couple. You would be part of making this ranch a model for eco-friendly tourism and sustainable agriculture. And that is something to be proud of. Contact us now to set up your Working Ranch Vacation.  Ranch Cowgirl Cande Herding Cattle We had a friend/volunteer come spend a week on a working ranch vacation at the Double Circle – and we all had a great time! Cande flew in from Florida, rented a car, and drove to the ranch to work as a cowgirl – for free. She wanted the ranch experience – we needed an extra set of hands. It worked out well all the way around. It didn’t take me long to see that Cande was experienced with both horses and cattle, so she got a lot of saddle time herding the Texas Longhorn steers. Even though these mountains, rocks, and cactus are totally different than Florida flatlands, Cande proved to be a very good hand. She took care of all the cattle herding by herself for two days while we were out of town, and looked like an old hand at it, too. Needless to say, she has an open invite here any time!  Ranch Cowgirl Cande Herding Arizona Longhorns  Ajo - A Good Horse for Herding Cattle I have been riding Ajo quite a bit lately. He is one of the old, reliable equine souls on the ranch. In my search for a personal horse, I keep coming back to Ajo. This old guy has more heart than 10 horses. He just keeps going. Plus he is sure footed- although a little stiff in the mornings- and extremely responsive. He is an absolute joy to ride. I want a younger Ajo for my personal horse. He has to be out there somewhere. Anyone have a great ranch horse for sale?  Choosing Good Ranch Horses  Cowdog Pup Herding Longhorns Our cowdog pup, Belle Starr, has joined the ranch cow dog work crew here at the Double Circle Ranch. She’s still a pup and tends to overreact sometimes, but she has good instincts and loves to work cattle. Here she is herding longhorn steers off a hillside for me. I can’t get out of the cabin without her trailing behind me. She sure doesn’t want to be left behind. Thank goodness for cow dogs in this big country!  Belle the Cowpup at Work |  | ||||||
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