Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
As I left off yesterday, I can tell you from first hand experience how important swimming lessons are even for ranch kids who may never hit the pool other than that week of summer lessons.
When I was around 18 years old, those swimming lessons would come in clutch on what started out as a typical, July ranch day. It was bull pulling season, so my uncle and I headed down to south of Gordon, NE where we were running some cows on my cousin’s ranch. It was getting hot and typical to pulling bulls that time of year and in the heat, the last dude had to be a real booger!
He had ropes hanging off of him like tinsel on a Christmas tree when he out muscled and smarted us and got into Sandhills lake. If you have never pulled bulls with my family, especially my Uncle Jack then you wouldn’t know that we don’t give up and we don’t go home until all the bulls are in the trailer. Instead of drawing straws, it was quickly decided that I was ride into the lake grab a rope and either dally or pass the rope off to my uncle or cousins, on shore, who were not fond of water and admittedly can only swim in the bath tub.
I was carefully judging how high the water was on the bull’s back to know where it should be on me and my big, bay gelding, Wrangler. Suddenly, I realized I was getting in way deeper than what I expected. And at that moment I realized my mount had decided to take full advantage of this cooling off period and he was rolling in the lake.
Times up, gotta go! Come back tomorrow and find out what happened next!
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her current role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
