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!
If you have missed the last couple of days of Ranch Raised, you gotta catch up on the Your Ag Network app or website or on the Ranch Raised FB page!
As I rode into that lake to grab a rope hanging off the bull or get him to dry ground, I realized I now had water over my saddle horn. I thought to myself, I shouldn’t be getting this deep on my big, bay gelding, Wrangler. Then I could feel my horse shifting underneath me and I knew I had to quickly kick free and swim away from my horse because he decided to take full advantage of the cool deep water and submerge himself and roll.
Having the confidence to keep my cool, and “Think, Don’t Sink,” was a difference maker in this situation. I’m not saying my front crawl technique was perfect, but I was able to make it to dry ground on my own accord because the family company I had that day was not really lifeguard material. Other than smelling like fish on the long ride home from Gordon back up to Hermosa, SD I think we were all thankful the day ended with a full crew and trailer full bulls all going home safely, at the end of the day.
I grew up like my own kids, not frequenting the swimming pool, but usually only during the week of swimming lessons. I know my kids will log the majority of their summer swim time in the horse tank, but you never know when, later in life having the skills to save yourself or others around water will come in to play.
I don’t regret one bit the time or the gas money I have spent shlepping kids back and forth to swimming lessons. You can’t put a price tag on this life skill and I just can’t say enough how much I encourage other parents to value youth swimming lessons too!
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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.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
