Howdy!

I am so excited that you are here and reading this blog! I have been thinking about writing one for awhile but had debated about if anyone would want to read my rambling or not but I finally decided to just jump in and get to writing. I know I can count on at least my mom and dad reading my blog so, “Hi mom and dad!”

I thought that I should start out and tell you a little about myself in case someone other then mom and dad want to read my ramblings.

My name is Selena Bradshaw. I was Selena Giers and sometimes I still forget that its not that anymore. I hope i’m not the only one that gets busy and starts signing things with their maiden name. This happens to me more then I would like to admit… I am happily married to a Rancher in Oklahoma. We have been married a little longer then a year and a half but I have been playing the role of Ranch Wife for much longer then that. We raise commercial cattle, bucking horses and some bucking bulls. We call our ranch the Stuk B. My husband and I run everything together. Well he does the heavy lifting, hard thinking and the fast riding but I’m right there behind him (Slick, my main using horse and I have an agreement he doesn’t go super fast or do anything silly and he gets treats when we get back to the house. So we don’t do the heading but we make a great pair of catching back feet once things have slowed down.) I am so blessed that I get to work with my best-friend/husband everyday all day. I had a great friend that also works with her husband tell me that people would think it’s crazy that we spend so much time together but I agree with her response that she’s not sure how anyone wouldn’t want to spend all day with their best friend and true love? So in that case I feel like we are extremely lucky. However, I do sneak away on occasion to go show my horses or work horse shows.

Horse shows are my true passion. I love everything about a horse show. I have been spending more time working at horse shows then actually showing lately and have found that I enjoy that part as well. I have shown in everything from Jumping, Cutting and Western Pleasure and love every class but you are more likely to find me in the Ranch Classes. I have a really fun little horse that has taken me to the AQHYA World Show in Working Cowhorse and a few years ago he took me to the AQHA VRH World show. He is pretty special to me and you will probably hear about him more. His name is Smart Trey and he has lived everywhere that I have. I have had my worst days with him and my best days. We have been on many adventures and have traveled thousands of miles together.

I grew up in Parker, Colorado and had a great childhood being very active in 4-H and showing horses. That passion led me to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado where I was able to take my horse with me and show on the schools Ranch Horse Versatility team. While there I received my associates in Animal Science as well as a deep love of Agriculture from some amazing professors. I highly recommend going to a Junior College it was a great experience that let me go on many adventures such as Farm Bureau Discussion meets in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Range Management Exams in Spokane, Washington and countless horse shows in Texas, Wyoming and Colorado. From NJC I went on to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. I was able to once again able to show my horse for the schools Ranch Horse Versatility team and graduated with a Bachelors in Animal Production and a minor in Business. I loved living in Stephenville, I mean I lived in an apartment where my horse, Trey, lived right beneath me, that’s pretty hard to beat! If you have never been to Stephenville you should really go. It’s a magical place that is “The Cowboy Capital of the World!”

I really thought that I was going to end up being a breeding manager at a big time performance horse center. I had spent two amazing summers working for Brad Ray and Kirsten Traul interning at Premier Breeding Services. But, life has a funny way of changing plans and I ended up moving to Sterling, Oklahoma (apparently I really like towns names Sterling) and becoming a Ranch Wife. The big man upstairs knew what he was doing all along because, I have used what I learned from Brad and Kirsten multiple times helping with some baby broncs that needed a little help and my college education has come in hand with getting cows set up to AI and AI’ing our own cows. So although I don’t have a job that really requires the education that I have. I am still very grateful for it and think that all of those lectures on feeds and feeding, physiology of reproduction, beef production and even tax classes have all had their time to shine on the ranch. My business classes came in to play when I started my little business called Punchy Designs, “Ranch Wife Creations” I am sure that you will hear more about Punchy Designs later but it keeps me busy working on different crafts such as horse hair braiding, beading and clothing making and other fun crafts, you will have to go check it out on Facebook.

I hope from this blog that you will get a little glimps into the life of a Ranch Wife. I hope that some days it will make you laugh and other days it will make you ponder what I have been pondering. I plan on sharing stories, thoughts that I have and just plain ramblings. I feel like the life that I get to live is a very unique one, that many might have an idea of what it is like but don’t truly know what it is. I hope that through my blog you might get a little more respect for the people that are working everyday to be stewards of the land and to feed a growing world. I hope that if you aren’t a ranch wife that you will see that we live a very roller-coaster of a life filled with hardship and many blessings. I hope that if you are a fellow Ranch Wife that maybe you will connect with me and feel not so alone, that maybe you will find in my stories some things that you have experienced as well.

Thank’s for joining me on this first really rambling introduction. I hope you stick around!