Welcome to the Ranch!

On Saturday, October 11th, the Holliday family of Cross Creek Cattle Company hosted a trail ride for the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sherriff Mounted Posse.  Mr. and Mrs. Holliday as well as Lane, Kyla, and Jake DeHaven worked very hard to blaze and clean up trails.  Lane had also tried to shred all the pastures.

The amount of rainfall we have received lately made it impossible to get all the shredding done.  Every time Lane tried to shred, the water would begin rising out of the soil under the weight of the tractor tires.  The last thing we want is for our pastures to be full of ruts.  Therefore not much shredding occurred.

At one point Lane pulled a log out of a pathway only to be instructed to put it back.  It turns out that my dad, Kenton Holliday, had spent a bit of time carefully trimming off any branches.  He intended the log to stay in order to make the trail more challenging and interesting for the riders.

The day before the trail ride and meeting the weather was nice.  It was sunny and cool.  We were hoping that the weather would hold and make a perfect day for horseback riding.  I made brownies and rice krispie treats for dessert. The Hollidays purchased drinks and provided cakes.  The day of the event we went over early to help set-up.

Later we arrived at the barn to saddle up and ride the horses through the creeks to the cabin.  Our plan was to wait there for the trail ride to begin.  Just as the last saddle was being tightened up on the fourth horse, it started to rain.  Soon after, our phone rang and the trail ride had been canceled.  However, we were still having a meeting of the Posse at the cabin.

I promise you that nobody was more disappointed than the Hollidays and the DeHavens.  We had worked so hard and were really looking forward to people enjoying our ranch.  We have creeks, trails, pastures, woods, logs in the paths, and more.  It really is the perfect place to ride your horse.

About 30 people showed up for the meeting.  I felt this was a pretty good turn-out especially considering there was rain and no ride.  The Imhoff ranch donated food, which we enjoyed after the meeting.  Despite the weather, the Posse had a good get-together.  Now we are trying to find a date to re-schedule the trail ride.

Last week I described the performance that the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff’s Mounted Posse was practicing for the grand entry of two rodeos.  They did a great job representing the county at the rodeos.  At the last minute, the Posse had to change their ending song from the “Star-Spangled Banner” to the “Grand Ole Flag.”  Apparently the professional drill team that followed our performance were already using the national anthem.

Kyla and Jake ride in first holding the Texas and American flags.  They ride into position and hold it while other team members ride their horses in different drill patterns.  Clayton is riding a black and white paint mare.  Together they made a great pair and are relatively easy to spot.

I just thought that ya’ll would like to see the performance for yourselves.  Enjoy the video!

My oldest three children are members of the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff’s Mounted Posse.  This weekend they will ride in the grand entry to start off the rodeos on Saturday and Sunday.  The Posse has been meeting about every other week for practice.  This is something that my husband does with the kids.  I usually stay home with the youngest members of our family.  But since this was the last practice before the performance, I decided to go.

Kyla and Jake practicing their entrance.

Kyla and Jake begin the performance.  Kyla will be holding the Texas flag and Jake will be holding the American flag.  Music plays while they walk into position in the center of the rodeo arena.

Meanwhile, the other older riders take their positions on either side of the arena.  When the music changes to “In God We Still Trust” by Diamond Rio, these riders immediately go into a lope and stay in a lope while doing various formations.  Clayton is one of these riders.  He rides his horse, Roxie, and together they have learned to do these fast exercises.  He does a great job weaving between other riders and around his brother and sister standing in the middle of the arena.

Clayton and Roxie at a lope with Kyla in the background.

They do figure eights and split into two circles moving in opposite directions.  Then they come to a standstill resting for the big finale.  The song ends and the “Star Spangled Banner” begins.  Eight riders form a circle in the middle of the arena with their horses’ butts together.  These riders are all holding flags.  Two have POW/MIA flags, two have Posse flags, two have Texas flags, and two have the American flag.  As the song plays, they leave at a gallop two by two.  They have so coordinated the music with their moves that the last two riders who are holding the American flags exit at the end and, in my opinion, the climax of our national anthem.  It is very stirring.

I am so glad that my children were able to experience being members of the Posse.  They had many opportunities to ride in all different terrains and conditions.  They made friends with other horse-loving children.  They also developed closer relationships to their horses.  The Posse might not have taught them to better horseman (and woman), but it certainly gave them activities in which to grow in their horsemanship ability.

Isaac and Andrew riding their horses at Posse practice.

I hope that this organization will continue in the years to come because I have two other boys who also love horses and would love to join the Posse.  They are already practicing on their stick horses, although Andrew needs to learn to take better care of his horse.  I am quite sure that the head is supposed to be up, instead of being drug through the dirt.

I look forward to watching the performances with the flags and the matching uniforms.  I am confident that they will do a great job representing Grimes County.  In addition, my children also know that they are representing Cross Creek Cattle Company.  We have no doubt that they will make us proud.