Okay, if having fabulous author Lisa Wingate at Tag(g)lines today wasn’t awesome enough, her topic is just way too fun: cowboys.
I mean, seriously, could there be any better topic? Although, I should mention that in addition to talking cowboys and ranches, Lisa also mentions her new book: Firefly Island. Folks, this book is sooo good. I mean, I always love Lisa Wingate’s books, but this one might just be my favorite. Highly. Recommend. 🙂
Not only did Lisa write a fun post about the realities of ranching life, she also included photos from her own life on the ranch! Enjoy!
Cowboy 101 – A Bit of “Behind the Scenes” from Firefly Island
For me, every novel is a combination of truth, fiction, and serendipity. In Firefly Island, a surprising case of love at first sight transports Mallory Hale, a career-driven congressional Aide, from her comfortable DC life, to the life of a ranch wife and step-mom, living smack in the middle of ten-thousand acres, miles from her nearest neighbor.
Like Daniel in the story, my husband really did walk out of a back bedroom after a phone call years ago, and say, “I uhhh… think I’ve just… ummm… been offered a job on a big ranch in Texas.” That was the beginning of the wild adventure that inspired Mallory’s experiences in Firefly Island.
For fun today, I thought I’d share a few of the common differences between ranch fiction and modern ranch life:
Fiction: Modern-day ranches are family-owned outfits, where multiple adult family members live in close proximity, raise horses, compete in rodeos, and are banking on that one special horse to win a major competition (show, rodeo, race, etc.) and save the ranch.
Reality: While many ranches are family owned and run, it’s much more likely these days that many of the family members will live and/or work elsewhere. Supporting multiple households on ranching income is difficult, unless the place is very large and quite successful.
Many larger ranches these days, like the one where we enjoyed our real-life adventure, are owned by investors whose income stream is provided by other business interests. Any number of families may live and work on the ranch, but in general they are employees, not family members of the owner. Most ranches have a foreman or manager and various hired hands. Hired hands work long, hard hours and are dedicated to their work because they love the ranching lifestyle.
Fiction: Cowboys head for the bright lights of the rodeo arena on the weekends.
Reality: While some working cowboys have a history in rodeo, the life of a working cowboy is strongly tied to the ranch and the care of livestock. A workweek is usually five-and-a-half or six days, with rotating days off on Sundays, or feeding duties only on Sundays. Some cowboys do compete in the hometown rodeo when it rolls around, but association rodeo (the big kind you see on TV) is a serious sport, requiring travel and dedication. For a ranch cowboy, there’s always livestock to feed, sick animals to doctor, and animals foaling, calving, or otherwise requiring attention. There’s not much time for pursuing a rodeo career.
Fiction: Cowboys ride tall in the saddle, sunup to sundown.
Reality: In general (not usually by choice, though), cowboys are more likely to be found riding a tractor or a truck than riding a horse. When the day does call for horseback work, such as moving cattle from one location to another, or sorting off calves at weaning time, it’s often an event that hired hands and families look forward to, and family members frequently come out to participate.
Fiction: Cowboys only ride stallions… because cowboys are manly men.
Reality: Cowboys seldom ride stallions while doing horseback work. Stallions tend to be difficult to handle in a working situation, and cowboys can’t risk distractions when there’s a job to be done. Ranch work is long, difficult, and sometimes dangerous. On horseback days, a reliable mount (usually a gelding) is essential. Aside from that, if a ranch horse is allowed to remain a stallion, it’s generally because he is a valuable breeding animal, and the ranch owner usually doesn’t want to risk injury by using him for ranch work.
Fiction: A cowboy’s best pal is his horse.
Reality: No so fast, Trigger! On most days, a cowboy’s sidekick is his dog, who can usually be found riding in the back of his pickup or in the passenger seat, always ready for the next challenge. A working dog can be a cowboy’s best asset and closest friend. A good cowboy dog knows more than just how to help gather the cattle—he knows a few entertaining tricks that can be shown off in town, and he knows enough to always keep an eye on his best buddy’s pickup truck, so he never gets left behind.
Thanks for joining me for a little cowboy fun. I hope you’ll enjoy sharing Mallory’s adventure and getting to know the ranch folks in Firefly Island ;o)
*****
Lisa Wingate is a magazine columnist, inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of mainstream fiction novels, including the national bestseller, Tending Roses, which is currently in its fourteenth reprint. Her books have been featured selections for Doubleday and Literary Guild book clubs, selected for The Reader’s Club of America, and have garnered LORIES Best Fiction and Reader’s Choice Awards, and been nominated for the ACFW Book of the Year Award. Lisa loves sharing with readers via Facebook, Youtube, and her website. More information about Lisa’s novels can be found at www.Lisawingate.com.
All right, readers, time to spill: Were you surprised by any of Lisa’s realities about ranching life? Who’s your favorite cowboy?
Fiction: Cowboys head for the bright lights of the rodeo arena on the weekends.
Reality: In general (not usually by choice, though), cowboys are more likely to be found riding a tractor or a truck than riding a horse. When the day does call for horseback work, such as moving cattle from one location to another, or sorting off calves at weaning time, it’s often an event that hired hands and families look forward to, and family members frequently come out to participate.
Reality: No so fast, Trigger! On most days, a cowboy’s sidekick is his dog, who can usually be found riding in the back of his pickup or in the passenger seat, always ready for the next challenge. A working dog can be a cowboy’s best asset and closest friend. A good cowboy dog knows more than just how to help gather the cattle—he knows a few entertaining tricks that can be shown off in town, and he knows enough to always keep an eye on his best buddy’s pickup truck, so he never gets left behind.
Comments 18
Love this little peek into the life of a cowboy! It’s amazing that something admittedly not so glamorous is just so darn romantic! Then again, I married a county boy so it’s easy to see why we swoon over cowboys 🙂 Can’t wait to read Firefly Island, Lisa.
It’s such a good book, Amy!
Love this sneak peek. 🙂 We don’t have ranches in the traditional sense in Minnesota. We have Dairy Farms, which are often run very similar to ranches, so I wasn’t too surprised by the information above. Still fun to read!! 🙂
Dairy Farms…how well I know. Did several interviews in dairy farms while reporting. 🙂
Really enjoyed the fiction vs. reality. Love that cowboys take their dogs everywhere. I do, too…well, in my jeep. 🙂
I once did an interview at a ranch where they raised PBR bulls and this dog named Festus eyed me the entire time. Freaked me out a bit. Hehehe…
Thanks, Lisa, for a peek into a cowboy’s life. My brother-in-law doesn’t have a ranch, but he owned a stable with enough land for raising a few horses of his own, boarding them for neighbors, breeding them, and renting them out for special events. He also organized trail rides around his part of East Texas. He’s semi-retired now and has cut back on a lot of those activities.
Sounds like a lot of work to me, but I love to read about them whether contemporary or historical.
Martha, thanks so much for stopping by!
Loved reading this, Lisa! I really didn’t know most of this, so thanks for educating me. 🙂
I AM surprised that a place called Firefly Island is a ranching community, though. It sounds more like something with a tropical beach. 😉
It’s such a beautiful book…and it’s cool how the island, the small town and the ranch all intersect in the story. Loved it!
Wow…that was fascinating, the difference between real and fiction. I have wondered what real cowboys do…thanks for letting us know!
It was such a fun, eye-opening post, wasn’t it!
Ah, country boys. They are simply the best. 😉 I requested this book to review, because you’ve raved about it so much, Melissa. It does look great.
On other news…your hair is getting long! I like it. 😉
Thanks! It’s in desperate need of a trim, but I keep putting it off…a piece of me wants to whack it all off. 🙂
I hope you enjoy the book. I really loved the storyworld, the writing…and I loved how real the main character is!
Look forward to reading “Firefly Island”. Fun post. Thanks, Lisa and Melissa.
I loved this post. Here in the panhandle of Texas, most cowboys wear baseball caps and use four-wheelers to check the cattle. Pick up trucks are an essential and, like you said, the dog is a constant companion. A lot of them work at the cattle feed yards. They do use horses there.
While we were in Montana for vacation, we did see cowboys on horseback with cowboy hats. It looked awesome.
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