great stories on the highs of being Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2007.


As we walked deeper and deeper into the pastures I was completely overwhelmed by the breath-taking scenery. Grass, trees and hills as far as the eye could see, complete tranquillity. Without a phone signal thoughts of home and work had vanished and the focus was on soaking-up the sun and the fresh air.


As a group of six we got along brilliantly with the conversation flowing easily. Luckily everyone spoke English and it was great to meet a group of people from all over the world with different backgrounds, yet who all had a shared passion to be on the ranch and appreciate it.


I was initially a little apprehensive about riding in a Western saddle even though I was assured it was like a big armchair and after hours in the saddle I had to admit my bum was getting a little numb, but all in all it was very comfortable. Picnicking in the pasture was lovely, with a ham and cheese sandwich just the job and definitely needed. Jerry loved to joke and have fun, nicknaming Karla, Miss Switzerland and me, Miss England – the laughing was just so infectious throughout the holiday.


Back to checking pastures, which involved securing fences, making sure there was enough water and looking at the cows to ensure they were healthy and injury-free.


Once back at the ranch, horses were untacked and fed and we headed in for supper to fill up on Tammy’s delicious home cooking - completely exhausted it was an early night for all.


Sorting Cattle Next on the agenda it was time to move on to the ranch work of moving cows and sorting them into breeds. The idea of chasing and rounding up cows filled me with excitement, just like you see in the films!


A very hot day of 90ºF, I think most of the guests thought I was mad in a Tottie polo shirt and jeans; they were all wrapped up, used to temperatures of over 100ºF, it was hot!


The group along with Tammy and Jerry had to find all the cows, drive the cows into another pasture, and then Jerry would sort the cows he wanted. Each section was marked with horse and rider, our job was to stop the cows escaping and move them forward. Methods to achieve this included whistling at them, shouting and generally talking angrily at the cows to encourage movement, finally if that didn’t work using a rein to whip them. We sorted around 40 cows, this seemed quite manageable, yet was actually very challenging.


Before visiting the ranch I didn’t really have any perceived expectations, I just wanted to experience a real life working ranch and this was certainly the case. The conversation arose as to why guests had chosen Rowse’s One Plus One - for the adventure was unanimous, with a craving to try something new and learn new things was a plus, spectacular scenery and lots of riding were a must and not forgetting a comfy room - Rowse’s definitely ticked all these boxes.


Driving Cattle Waking up the next day, after sleeping in the comfiest bed ever, I was feeling quietly confident about sorting cows until I was told we had to move more than 430 cows and their calves nine miles home and it was at this point that concern set in.


Time to get the four-wheeler (quad bike) out to fetch the horses in. Tammy had shown Karla and me how to bring the horses in on the four-wheeler


Collecting cows as we moved between pastures and herding them forward through gates and tracks, we met the freeway! Driving 430 cows and calves down the road was completely surreal especially when an escort vehicle approached followed by three extremely long juggernauts, my face dropped.


It was a seemingly impossible task to drive through all these cows but somehow we helped make it work and they managed to creep through. This was something I had to record on film and the camera came out to take a few photographs of them, whilst the drivers in turn took photographs of us laughing and smiling.


A group of us stayed at the back encouraging the cows forward and as my section of cows started being particularly difficult Jerry told me to be more aggressive. Well that was it I was in my element, screaming and shouting at the cows to go forward it was a great stress relief although my throat did get sore as the hours went on.


Every so often I would just look out at the huge herd of cattle in front and take it all in, it was incredible and this experience was definitely a highlight.


Six hours later, completely high on adrenalin, we reached the horses’ pasture and moved the cattle the final stretch into the sandy pen near the house. There was a great sense of pride among the group that we had actually done it and the memory of driving cattle will last me a lifetime.


Dinner time and we were all so hungry; the first time I have had meatloaf and it tasted great with


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cows, pushing the calves into the pen and making sure the cows went to the next pen.


I felt the pressure to keep the calves in, on the ground you feel a little less safe and as the calves’ pen became increasingly full they were more eager to escape back to their mums, it was also very noisy with lots of mooing. Thanks to a lot of help and with a good system in place we moved all the cows and calves successfully despite Nadine, one of the guests, being knocked to the ground when trying to stop one of the calves escaping. She took off like Superman before falling but thankfully she was fine and the incident made us all laugh for the rest of the day.


the day before so we now set out alone. It was amazing trying to encourage over 50 horses to go into the yard on a quad bike, we were careful not to miss any and I even ended up running after them to start them moving, revving the engine also helped. It was great to then see all the Quarter Horses eventually start to follow each other in a line back over the pasture and on to the house.


Our team of four guests were joined by Tammy, Jerry, Kyle, and their friends Jason and Zac. All the horses were tacked up, loaded on to the trailer and driven the nine miles to find the cows. The weather was cooler so perfect for moving the cows, if it had stayed hot Jerry explained they would easily become tired and unco-operative.


The first job was to find the cows so with sections given Jessie and I were off on a mission. Walking, trotting and cantering up hills to make sure we found all the cows to start moving them south east. It was important to remember that when driving cows never get in front of the cattle, always stay behind, so they can’t escape and this was one piece of advice I wasn’t going to forget.


lots of cheesy potatoes and salad. At One Plus One seconds are a must, along with huge helpings of dessert which was a gorgeous cherry cheesecake.


Horseshoes was the early evening game of choice. You have to throw a horseshoe at a pole in the ground and points are scored if you get the horseshoe around the pole which is a “ringer- 3 points” and next to the pole “one point”. The first team to get to 21 wins. Karla and I were a force to be reckoned with, well Karla was, I can’t throw, but we all had enormous fun beating the boys from Burwell, Clint and Dean.


Separating cows and calves On Friday the calves had to be separated from their mothers to go to the feeders. The cattle trucks were coming at 10am so it meant an early start. Breakfast was served at 7am, a wonderful array of breakfast burritos; you could help yourself to a wrap, minced beef, scrambled egg, hash browns, salsa, cheese and sour cream. All wrapped up, they were delicious. We needed the stamina as we were all on foot and I was on gate duty to let the calves into the other pen. Other roles included sorting the


When two huge cattle lorries arrived I was simply amazed by the sheer size of them and Karla and I had to take a closer look. They were like a big maze with lots of different compartments to fit all the calves in and eventually we loaded all 106 with just enough room for them to move about.


After seeing the experts roping I decided it was time to have a go myself. Well they definitely made it look easy and I was on foot. I could not get the hang of throwing the rope in the air, never mind whilst riding and chasing a cow. But with a lot of practice and lots of great advice from Jerry, I began to get the hang of it and eventually even managed to rope the hay practice cow around the horns even though it remains something I need to work on in the future.


Tammy and Erin had prepared a wonderful final supper for Shelly, Nadine and me. The table was set beautifully with a treat of steak, peppers stuffed with cheese and potatoes and peas, they all tasted amazing. Fun, laughter and reminiscing from the week went on all night.


After supper we all got the opportunity to do some branding. We used miniature, heated rods in all different designs, from the brand for the ranch I + I, family initials, J, T, K, a rodeo horse and a long horned cow. We branded some pieces of cow hide to keep and it did make me think it would be quite interesting to learn how to brand a cow for real.


My holiday was coming to the end; it had been the most incredible experience, with such wonderful hosts and guests that made it truly magical. I really did not want to leave and could not have dreamed of a better time. I hope to go back and visit everyone soon!


Essential Packing • Cowboy hat, complete with string, so it doesn’t blow off • Lots of shirts


• Comfy jeans, a couple of pairs, whether it is riding or in the evening they are the only thing i wore.


• Breeches/Jodhpurs do offer a comfortable option out riding


• Cowboy boots or riding boots and chaps • A waterproof jacket • Warm Jumper • Gilet • Gloves • Scarf


Thank you to Tottie and Harry Hall for providing fashionable yet extremely comfortable and hard- wearing clothing for my American adventure.


To book your dream holiday at Rowse’s One Plus One Ranch, visit the website www. top50ranches.com or www.1plus1ranch.com.


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