IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS. AND OH WHO'S THAT GETTING ALL SLICKED UP? IS THAT HIP SHOT? I BELIEVE IT IS! HE'S MUST BE GETTING ALL DUDED UP FOR THE OCCASION! WHAT A JOLLY OL CHAP HE IS INDEED.

HO, HO, HO MERRY CHRISTMAS AND DO HAVE A HIP, HIP, HIPPY NEW YEAR!

Tizz the season to be jolly

December is upon us once again. We woke to 4" of fresh snow this morning which looks a lot like Christmas!

All is well here at the TX Ranch. Hip, Sheena, Payton & Harley helped drive some cattle home today. About 60 head were already at Davis Creek. They had their fill digging through the snow for feed. They were happy to find their way home for the winter. Dez & Ryan hauled heifers to a farm near Lovell with beet tops, and beat tailings for feed. They will do real well gaining on that type of feed. As soon as the weather clears up Dez and Ryan will be driving around to the Will James Ranch and Shivley Ranch where Star lives. They'll be driving out the horses and also the rest of the cows which are still at Lone Wolf and in-between else where.

We all pregnancy tested cows last week and also in November. Sheena and I have been going with Hip or Dez and Ryan when possible. I'm helping Abbie and Sheena too when possible. This fall Abbie had a pretty bad spell of gout and wasn't able to walk. Thank goodness today she was doing much better. She tried some cherries and she took some anti inflammatory type pills. It did help her and she looks much better now. SO GLAD!!! :) :)

The Tillett family wishes to thank you so very much for such a great and fun 2011 season. It was a pleasure for our family to meet new friends and to see our dear friends who visit the ranch when it's possible or yearly. Hip, Loretta, Desiree, Ryan and Christine all enjoyed some great times in camp and in the saddle and working cattle together with everybody!

Our fond wishes for a Blessed, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!

From all at TX Ranch

TX sister's night out!

Week end time out, a quick shot on a night out for sis's in their girly dud's!

Summer is here!

Wow we've had a busy spring with few blog words in-between and it's already summer! It's been a rainy spring with all kinds of cattle work going on both in camp and at the home place that is why my post is long over due and please forgive me for that.

We're now almost ready to move camp to the Lone Wolf now that it's almost July. We normally drive the cattle out of the spring range country around the first of July. So once that happens Lone Wolf is where we are based to be as close to the cattle as possible for working, riding, etc. It's a nice move and the cattle are ready for greener range pasture as well as our selves. We'll begin our seasonal cattle work cattle drives, castration, ear tagging, vaccines, wrangling horses, late branding you name it the livestock seem to keep us busy spring, summer, fall or winter.

We're looking very much forward to the move and the scenic cow camp at Lone Wolf! We have some great guests and friends who will be with us this season helping us through our busy schedule with the livestock and all the trimmings that come with it. We're so very much looking forward to seeing and meeting each and every one it's something we truly enjoy and we feel so fortunate to meet and share our time in the saddle and working cattle together and down time in camp with the best folks out there!

Have a great summer, we'll keep in touch!

Happy trails!
Hip, Loretta, family and crew

TX Ranch: It's warming up!

It's been warming up this week we're so we're all smiles and actually looking forward to spring time. Right now it's slushy everywhere at least for a few more days. This winter we had a lot of snow for our area which we needed so we can't complaining one bit. Hopefully before the calves start coming along we'll be pretty well dried up. If it keeps dry while calving it will surly help a great deal. No doubt March we'll have rain and snow but hopefully it will be short lived for the calves to help them with their first days we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Hip, Dez and Ryan have been feeding daily and things have gone well for the livestock which is good. We've had our normal cold weather equipment problems and break downs which is expensive and time consuming although likely to expect during winter. With the days getting longer, more sun light and warming up, etc. the whole picture makes life easier on everybody, everything and it's giving all of us a taste of spring fever to boot.

We're all looking forward to heading back into Dryhead soon and staying at our spring camp Deadman which also means cattle drives, working cattle/calves, roping, branding once again. We're sure looking forward to our guest season because we all have been so lucky and fortunate to meet the best folks out there! It has really helped us understand people from all walks of life, learning from them, their ways, cultures and sharing a piece of our lives combined it just can't get better then that! Deadman cabin is coming along to we have most of it complete but still the roof work and finishing touches both inside and out. The cold weather and road conditions brought the project to a halt when it became unsure if you could get to Deadman or make it out by the end of a day with wind or snow since it's quite a steep climb.

Me, well I'm hard at it with helping Hip and also working on 2011 bookings with Sheena our daughter helping too. No doubt always ranch business can't forget those nagging bills which pile up if you don't keep on top of them. It's good though I very much enjoy helping Mr. Hip and anyone else because it gives me a chance to get away from business and be with the livestock what ever is necessary and family, can't beat that! : -)

Just a little heads up, can't wait to see all our good dear friends and meet some great new friends too.

Happy 2011 trails!

Another year behind us and still counting. Hip has been keeping us in line we've been extremely busy this past fall and winter. Mostly we're caught up with cattle work now so that's a good thing. Dez and Poncho have been riding in Dryhead too because we're still missing 25 head of cow/calf pairs. We're also missing some horses too although we're pretty sure they will show up eventually. It's been a much colder winter with much more snow this year too. We were hit with snow quite a while before Thanksgiving which normally happens directly after. I had a bucket of wash water I let set out overnight around November 15th trying to get my outside windows washed before it was to late. Good timing alright! I was able to turn my bucket upside down to dump it however it's still looks just like my bucket! Don't worry as well you know Mr. Hip keeps us thawed out!!! : - )

Cold weather plays a huge roll in a good day verses a bad day. It stresses cattle if it lasts very many consecutive days we feed much more to keep them warm. It also very much stresses equipment as well after all it's metal and diesel gels and in turn clogging filters, etc. Here on the ranch the cattle and horses are indeed our priority. Most everyday something breaks down which is necessary to feed. Other days everything breaks down and that keeps life interesting day and night. Hip usually figures something out and with those we purchase hay and beet tailing from too. By the end of the day what ever time it seems to be the cattle are feed. Fortunately many of our cows are on winter pasture. We keep the heifer calves, smaller steer calves, bulls, horses and younger cows "first calf heifers" home to feed through the late fall and winter months. Once March rolls around all the cattle are trucked and return home to Crooked Creek to calve out. We still have cold weather in March so we hope and pray for dryer weather conditions. It can be pretty darn cold although if it's dry you have a much greater chance saving a calf. First calf heifers are a different story heifers are the main bunch that need more baby sitting then anything. They don't always produce good milk along with the old mother cows either. A good mother with good milk is everything!!! We've been breeding for that in the bulls we purchase. Our herd is much better in that respect although with large numbers calving the combination of not such good mothers, birds, weather issues, feed conditions, sickness/scours/etc. is a sure thing and in turn spreads quickly. Every year the cattle teach us more. With years chalked up, everybody helping and learning combined and Hip's true grit that's what makes us who we are and still looking forward to learning more tomorrow.

We hope that all of our dear friends who have visited the ranch have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season. We appreciate each and everyone for helping the TX Ranch family keep our way of life.

Thank you very much and Happy 2011 trails!

Sept. 2010 what a year !

The 2010 season has been good to all of us although we've had a few hurdles cross our paths this year. We have been so fortunate to share some quality time in the saddle with folks from US and around the globe. We have met a lot of wonderful new guests this season and so many dear friends have return to the ranch as well. It has been a supper good year just for that reason alone and we thank you so much for that!

A little unfortunate news for this summer. This spring the Dead Man camp cabin and bunk house burned down to the ground while we were driving cattle into the spring range from Crooked Creek. Soon we will be rebuilding the Dead Man cabin again this fall. During late May Mr. Ryan "Poncho" had a horse buck and run off with him when he was roping in the herd. He almost got the horse under control during the whole ordeal when his horse hit some wire and took off once again. Poncho eventually came off and in turn broke his wrist and had to have pins put in and wear a splint to stabilize his injury. He was unable to ride for about six weeks. Late June he began riding once again. Around mid June Miss Dez had a horse accident too her horse ran off with her and fell at the end. When her horse went down she hit the saddle horn with her shoulder which made it pop out of the shoulder joint. When she actually hit the ground though it popped it back into the joint however at the same time she broke her shoulder ball joint. Dez is just now riding once again during our fall cattle drives. Healing from a dislocated shoulder is a very lengthy process if you what to avoid it happening again. Then on the last day of June Hip came off his horse because a bull was on the fight because it had been bitten by a rattle snake which caused it to have a fever in turn causing him to feel flighty, this can be common when livestock have a fever so look out maybe humans too!!! Hip was looking out for everyone and keeping the bull away from his riders. He as with Poncho and Dez were astride young inexperience horses that only we ride until they are completely finished broke experienced saddle horses which a person can hop on and go at anytime. We do not use these horses for guests. Anyway when Hip had everyone out of the way riding off he was still with the bull and tried to then kicked his horse and get the heck out of Dodge. His horse didn't take off and bulked instead. Hip was watching the bull when the bull then hit his horse. The horse spooked immediately spun and took off in a fast run. Hip came off and fell hard on his back. He got up and told the riders to carry on with the cattle to Dead Man and let someone know to come pick him up. Dez and I were at Dead Man when we found out and drove toward the canyon to pick him up. He had already walked two thirds of the way thinking it would help him. We got him to camp and he laid down thinking he didn't have any broken bones and that time would surly help get him down the road to recovery. I didn't want to go home of course but Hip made me because of the daily work at the home place. Three days later Hip drove himself home and I took him to the Billings E.R. He broke and compressed his back vertebra and the wings were broken off three vertebra above his break. He rested for a month and then back in the saddle the first of August. A bit soon alright "I tried" but he's Hip and I guess with that being enough of that. We all helped out as much as we could to keep things running as smooth as possible. Sara, our irregator went into camp to help ride and a local cowboy Justin came in to help us as well. Sheena our daughter took over the irrigation and I babysat her babies Payton and Harley. It was fun trying to tackle my job with a seven month old baby and a two year old. Wow I forgot how good I really have it just packing myself around I'll never complain again! It's now September and everyone is almost healed and doing well and glad to be back in the saddle or back to norm. We can't believe our guest season is almost over because we're already beginning to drive our first herd of cattle cow/calf pairs home to Crooked Creek once again, where did the season go???

We can't complain one bit our health is good and our guests have been good to us this year too. Our guests have given us all a lot of great wonderful rides and fond memories this season. We're gearing up getting ready for our 2011 season as we speak. Things are moving along quickly our first spring drive is fully booked already so we're excited and very much looking forward to the 2011 season!

Here's wishing you a great season & happy trails!

TX Winter!

Christmas and New Year's have already come and gone wow where in the heck did all that the time go, better keep looken! Hip and gang have been feeding cattle and horses daily which means a lot of hungry mouths to feed manually and with equipment and our feed truck. We do have a good percent of cattle on winter pasture during the months which makes it much easier on Hip, and everyone and for sure less stress on the cattle too. Before the cattle left Crooked Creek Hip had loads of cattle work to take care of with sorting, pregnancy testing, feeding, hauling, etc. We're lucky, it's been a good winter although we have had a few real cold, cold snaps but they fortunately haven't lasted to long, if they did it would be very hard on all livestock and of course equipment too. We already have February and March around the corner so all and all we sure can't complain. In March however the cattle will be driven and/or trucked back to Crooked Creek and then the long days begin with feeding, calving, calf bottles, doctoring, etc. No never a dull moment, we learn something new everyday, can't get better then that!

Dez, is at the Center Ranch riding for Ken McNabb through the next couple of months. Ken, will be a contestant in "Road to the Horse" this year which is quite a thrill for all of us and of course for Mr. Ken and his family. Desiree, will most likely go and watch Ken during the whole ordeal which I believe is in Tenn. We sure wish Ken well he's a great friend and contributor to our ranch horses and horses through out the USA. Ken McNabb will be having his horse sale again this season in June and Desiree will be helping Ken with his sale too. She will also have a horse or two in Ken's sale. We miss Dez, especially her dad "Hip" Dez seems to be his right hand man these days.

Poncho is helping us though the winter with riding and feeding here on Crooked Creek and down by the river Poncho of course is a big help for Hip and all of as too. He enjoys riding colts which is a big plus especially keeping our ranch colts going he also has a couple young colts going of his own.

Tim & Sam are helping feed hay and beet pulp at Crooked Creek, our corrals, and also down by the river it all keeps everyone busy and the cattle happy. They too have been helping work the ranch cattle through the winter months along with their own which they run in common with us year round.

Me, I have been taking care of guest bookings with our daughter Sheena this year. Adverts, business, taxes, helping Hip when ever necessary and also taking care of our ranch horses has kept me busy. We have several pretty good mares that will be foaling this season. We'll soon have some nice little ranch prospects this spring, our first foals will arrive in late March. We also have a few from 2007 and 08. The 07 colts will be started with riding this summer. Can't wait to see how they progress. During the spring and summer after their born I usually work and gentle them as much as possible getting them us to pressure, leading, working with their legs and that's about it because there are a few of them to get though. Spring is busy with the foals and mares because we also need to recover the mares as well. After that I haul them to Dryhead and turn them loose so that they can learn the range country, getting around, placing their feet, grazing, etc. during the summer months through November.

Abbie, is doing well she loves to go with Hip in the truck to visit, keep going and keep well. She is good company for all of us we truly enjoy her and love her stories.

Payton and Harley are happy, well and of course spoiled rotten. Hip, Dez and I just can't seem to get enough of our new little ones they are so much fun. Payton and Harley are growing like weeds which is to quickly for me I like them to stay adorable, lovable babies! No doubt I'm sure we'll think their our babies forever, poor things!

Soon our 2010 guest season will be upon us. We can't wait, we're very much looking forward to our seeing our dear friends again and meeting new friends too!

Thanks for your time & happy 2010 trails!

FALL TIME TX UPDATE

SHEENA AND NICK HAD ANOTHER BABY GIRL ON SEPTEMBER 24TH. HER NAMED IS "HARLEY LYNN", LYNN IS AFTER HER SISTER DEZ MIDDLE NAME. SHEENA IS MUCH MORE BUSY NOW WITH HER TWO DAUGHTERS ESPECIALLY FEEDING, DIAPERS, TENDING TO, WORK AND ALL. IT'S FUN TO HAVE A BABY THAT WE CAN LOVE, HOLD AND CUDDLE. HARLEY IS SLEEPING NOW PRETTY MUCH THROUGH THE ENTIRE NIGHT WHICH HELPS SHEENA GET CAUGHT UP ON HER SLEEP. HARLEY IS A BEAUTIFUL BABY WE LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING HER GROW UP. SHEENA IS HELPING WITH THE GUEST BOOKINGS THIS SEASON ALONG WITH MY HELP AT HER SIDE. ONCE SHE LEARNS THE ROPES SHE'LL TAKE ON MORE SUCH AS ADVERT, INTERNET, ETC. ME, I'M HELPING SHEEN AND DOING THE RANCH ACCOUNTING, BUSINESS AND HELPING WITH RANCHING, RIDING, CATTLE , HORSES AS MUCH AS I CAN FIT IN BECAUSE I LOVE IT.

PAYTON AT FIRST WAS A BIT JEALOUS OF HARLEY BUT SHE CAME AROUND AND LIKES HER SISTER, SHE'S LEARNING TO BE CAREFUL WITH HER AND SHE LIKES TO SHOW HARLEY OFF TO EVERYONE NOW. WE ENJOYED PAYTON SO MUCH DURING THE PAST SUMMER AND FALL. HER AGE IS A LOT OF FUN WE LOVE PLAYING FUN LITTLE GAMES AND READING STORIES TO HER. SHE LOVES TO BE HELD AND LOOK AT THE BOOKS. HER FIRST HALLOWEEN WAS SLOW AT FIRST BUT IN NO TIME A REAL THRILLER. PAYTON DIDN'T SEEM TO CARE MUCH AT FIRST BUT WHEN SHE STARTED OBSERVING/TAKING IN ALL THE OTHER TRICK OR TREAT'ERS, THE DECORATIONS, THE DOOR FRONT TREATS OH MY GOSH IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG BEFORE SHE WAS ALL EXCITED ABOUT IT AND WANTED MORE, MORE, MORE. HIP AND I ENJOYED THE WHOLE PICTURE AND FAMILY TOGETHER. SHEENA AND NICK WE'RE TAKING TURNS WITH PAYTON AS HIP AND I WERE TOO.

DEZ, HAS BEEN HELPING WITH CATTLE WORK AND RANCH RIDING QUITE A BIT. YESTERDAY AND TODAY DEZ & RYAN "PONCHO" ARE RIDING AT LONE WOLF AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY TO DRIVE EVERYTHING OVER TO THE ROBINSON PLACE. THAT WAY THEY'LL ONLY BE ABOUT A DAY OR SO DRIVE AWAY FROM THE HOME PLACE. TOMORROW I HOPE TO JOIN THEM AS YOU CAN SEE I'M CATCHING UP ON MUCH NEEDED BLOG UPDATE TODAY. DEZ AND RYAN ARE ALSO WORKING AND RIDING NEW YEARLING COLTS AND OLDER COLTS THIS FALL. THEY BOUGHT SOME NICE AQHA YEARLINGS THEY ARE WORKING WITH TOO. THEY ARE ALSO WORKING OUR RANCH AQHA YEARLINGS, TWO & THREE YEAR OLD'S WHEN THEY RIDE ON THE MOUNTAIN "FOREST", DRYHEAD OR AT THE HOME PLACE CORRALS. WE HAVE A ROUND PEN NOW WHICH HELPS A GREAT DEAL. THE COLTS ARE COMING ALONG WELL. THEY HAVE NICE DISPOSITIONS YET SEEM TO BE FAST, EASY LEARNERS AS WE ARE CHANGING OVER TO KEEPING ONLY OUR BEST MARES. DEZ PURCHASED A VERY NICE MARE OF HER OWN LAST WINTER WHEN PRICES BECAME MUCH MORE REASONABLE DUE TO ECONOMY. WE ALSO BOUGHT A VERY NICE MARE
TOGETHER OTHERWISE WE WERE UNABLE TO AFFORD HER. SHE IS A MARE BY "JAZZABELL QUIXOTE". BOTH PARENT'S ARE IN THE AQHA BOOK OF LEGENDS. WE WISH TO BREED HER AS WELL AS IS POSSIBLE. THIS SEASON SHE'LL HAVE A FOAL OUT OF "PEPTOBOONSMAL" AND "MISS DUAL DOC" ALSO THE MOTHER TO DUAL REY. HE IS IN THE TOP CUTTING OVER ALL CATEGORY FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS. WE'RE WORKING ON NEXT SEASONS BREEDING AT THE MOMENT AND WISH TO HAVE HER BOOKED BY THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. WE'RE ALSO GOING TO DO THE SAME WITH A HAND FULL OF MARES OUT OF A MARE WHOM WE LOVE HER COLTS THAT "GEORGE PSCHEIDT" GAVE ME IN 1995 ALSO DEZ'S GOOD MARE. WE'RE GETTING THERE SLOW BUT SURE WE HOPE TO HAVE A FEW BETTER YET, KEEN, FUN COWY HORSES FOR THE RANCH TO CHOOSE FROM.

HIP HAS BEEN IRRIGATING AND TODAY SHUTTING DOWN THE DITCHES/HEAD GATES. HE HAS ALSO BEEN STACKING HAY AND BEET PULP THAT HAS BEEN PURCHASED AND HAULED TO CROOKED CREEK "HOME PLACE". HE IS ALSO FEEDING SOME OLD COWS AND CALVES WE HAVE IN THE CORRALS. WE HAVE BEEN WORKING CATTLE, SORTING, ETC. AND WE SOLD CALVES A WEEK AND HALF AGO. BEEF PRICES THIS SEASON WERE DOWN WITH ECONOMY, 1990'S PRICES. AFTER WEANING CALVES, LAST WEEK WE DROVE THE COWS BACK TO DRYHEAD HOPEFULLY FOR ANOTHER MONTH, IT COSTS ABOUT $1,000 EACH DAY TO FEED THE CATTLE HAY AND WE HAVE EXTRA PASTURE AT ROBINSON PLACE ABOVE DEADMAN CAMP SO WE NEED TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THAT AS LONG AS THE WEATHER HOLDS OUT. ONCE SNOW HITS THEM IN THE BUTTS THEY WILL BE HARD TO KEEP IN DRYHEAD AND THEY'LL START PULLING OUT ON THEIR OWN. WE DON'T WANT THAT SO WE'LL GO IN AFTER THEM AND DRIVE THEM HOME.

BOOKINGS ARE COMING ALONG WELL SO FAR WE HAVE SOME WEEKS SPREAD OUT HERE AND THERE GETTING PRETTY VERY CLOSE TO FILLING ALREADY! WE'RE ALL LOOKING VERY MUCH FORWARD TO OUR 2010 SEASON AND SEEING A LOT OF OUR GOOD AND DEAR FRIENDS.

THANKSGIVING IS AROUND THE CORNER FAMILY AND FRIENDS WILL BE OVER THIS YEAR, ABBIE, DEZ, PONCHO, SHEEN, NICK, PAYTON & HARLEY, MY SISTER TRISHA, HUBBY JEFF AND SON BLAZE ALSO TIM, SAM. IT WILL BE FUN WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE BIG FEAST, SOUNDS LIKE I BETTER GET MY HINNY TO WORK. JAMIE OLIVER SITE HAS SOME GREAT RECIPES, VIDEOS AND INFO ABOUT THE TX RANCH IF YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT A COUPLE VIDEOS http://www.jamieoliver.com/jamies-america/wyoming/behind-the-scenes ALSO AT TOP OF PAGE CLICK "ABOUT JAMIE" FOR MORE TX INFO. THE TX WILL BE USING SOME OF JAMIES THANKSGIVING RECIPES THIS SEASON FOR THE BIG THANKSGIVING FEAST YUM, YUM, YUMMMMMMMMMMMM CAN'T WAIT!

ENJOY THE REST OF 2009! WE'LL KEEP IN TOUCH AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

THE HUNGRY TX'ENS

A few photos of Jamie Oliver during his stay at the TX Ranch!