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 Participant in the Ranch Photography Workshop Tom Whetten has set the 2011 dates for his ranch photography workshop here at the historic Double Circle Ranch. Dates are May 12-15 next spring. This is an opportunity to hone your photography skills with a world class photographer – and a great person to boot. Tom leads photo safaris to Africa every year as well as leading photo tours all over this country. We are proud that he considers our ranch as a premium photo spot.
Of course, with the wide-open scenery, abundant wildlife, and herd of Texas Longhorn steers, plus cowboys, Indians, and horses on a working ranch, there is always plenty to photograph. Check out our programs page and sign up early because Tom only takes a few students each workshop in order to have quality, one-on-one instruction. You won’t want to miss this workshop!
Photographing Longhorn Steers on a Western Cattle Ranch
 Karl on his Cattle Herding Vacation We had a wonderful guest here at the Double Circle Ranch last week. Karl Lentini from Los Angeles came to the Double Circle for a cattle herding vacation. He spent a week riding and herding Texas Longhorns. He chose this ranch because he didn’t want to go to a regular dude ranch with lots of people and nice wine lists with dinner. He wanted the Western Experience on a historic Arizona ranch – and he sure did get it.
Karl is in the movie business – used to Hollywood, not Eagle Creek. I am sure there was some culture shock, but Karl never complained. He HAD a definite western experience too. He got caught in a cattle stampede, a blowing wind – one of those can’t wear your hat wind – with driving rain, and had to ride in a lightning storm. The cattle were either in STEEP canyons or on high ridges that could only be accessed by very narrow trails covered with loose rock and with long drop-offs inches from the horses’ hooves.
Normally, we wouldn’t take inexperienced riders where Karl rode, but he was up to the challenge and passed with flying colors. He rode long hours despite getting a little saddle weary. He endured hot, cold, wet, and stormy weather all in one week. He almost got scraped off his horse in low branches at least twice. He found stray steers, turned the herd, and gathered and drove 223 longhorns to a new pasture. And he never quit smiling. He had a ball, and we enjoyed riding with him. Hope to see Karl again here at the Double Circle Ranch.
 Holder Family Reunion Group The Holder family reunion was held in August at the Double Circle Ranch with 20 immediate family members attending. Family came from as far away as New Jersey and as close as Safford, AZ. The younger family members spent the night in the tents while some of the adults stayed in Jim and Clarice’s straw bale home on Eagle Creek. Meals were served in the ramada. Since the Holders have a professional caterer in their family, they elected to do their own cooking for the reunion. Double Circle Longhorns, LLC is equipped with grills, barbeque pit, picnic tables, pans and dishes, hot water, and dish washing sinks for convenient cooking and cleanup under an open-sided covered ramada.
Double Circle Ranch is designed to accommodate small groups with flexibility to meet diverse requests. It was a nice place for all family members to have time to visit while the younger ones could run and be noisy without bothering anyone. Some of the people just wanted to sit around and visit at the ramada while others went in small groups to play in the water or to take advantage of photo ops. The sunflowers were in bloom, and with all the rain the whole area was nice and green. Wildlife was plentiful so everyone was able to take back many memories of Eagle Creek’s natural beauty. The longhorn steers were ranging between the Holder house and the tents so everyone got to see our western side also.
 Taking Photos at the Holder Family Reunion The families were very comfortable in the deluxe tents with running water, toilets and showers. Our family reunion at Double Circle Ranch was a great get together for our family. We got to reconnect with family members who have moved away in the quiet and private setting provided by Double Circle Longhorns,LLC. We plan on more reunions at the ranch in the future.
Clarice Holder
Double Circle Ranch is pure gold this year. We have fields of sunflowers stretching as far as you can see. Golden eye fills in the ground around the tall sunflowers with more shining gold flowers. It is a sight to see. We always have some golden eye and sunflowers, but they seem to run in cycles. This year we have hit the “pot of gold” for sure. It’s absolutely gorgeous!
 Sunflowers and Golden Eyes Cover the Hills  Sunflowers Blooming On The Ranch
 Working Ranch Guest Forrest and Tractor Our friend Forrest is back at the Double Circle Ranch as a working guest. He is the most helpful thing since pockets came into style – always handy. Not only does he ride and herd cattle, gather any stragglers, and feed horses, he runs a tractor and backhoe, does carpentry, electric, and plumbing and helps on solar and fencing projects. He is flying through a work list that would intimidate most people – and having fun doing it. We are winding up projects we thought might be in the “to do” list for another year. Hurray!!!
Forrest is here for a whole month. Wonder what would happen if his return flight ticket to California got “lost.” We wouldn’t mind shanghaiing him for another month! His wife might not be too pleased with that deal though.
There seems to be a slightly different philosophy about horses between cowboys and buckaroos. Cowboys value their horses and take care of them. They are the carpenter’s equivalent of a good saw and hammer – tools to be used and well taken care of. Buckaroos come from the old Spanish horsemanship school. They too value their horses as working tools – but they go a little further.
As the new Double Circle buckaroo told me yesterday, cowboys have horses to work cattle. Buckaroos work cattle to train horses. He said that if a man could make one or two GOOD horses in his lifetime, he was a success and had accomplished something valuable. Now that is a horseman’s philosophy!
 Silver Bridlehorse Bit Getting back to the differences I’ve observed between the traditional cowboys and the buckaroo we’ve hired to work on our cattle ranch, here’s what I’ve noticed about their horse riding gear.
Cowboy saddles, bridles, etc. tend to be basic and functional, good quality but not fancy. Buckaroo gear also is good quality but has a lot more flash – lots of silver, tooling, etc. Some buckaroo bridles are absolutely a work of art – but are still put on a horse’s head and used long hours.
Cowboy tapaderos are generally plain leather. They may have two pair. One would be sheep skinned lined for winter taps and one unlined for summer use. Some are made of rawhide. Buckaroo taps are fancy with long sides almost like a parade saddle would have.
Cowboys tend to carry shorter ropes than buckaroos and are less likely to have a hand braided reata in their war bag.
 Snaffle Bridle with Horsehair Mecate Cowboy bits start with a bosal with a basic snaffle and run to various curb bits – usually plain. Buckaroo bits also start with bosal, and include a hackamore, a snaffle bit and a “bridle horse” bit or two. Their bridle horse bits may be spade bits with ornate engraved silver. A good buckaroo bridle bit is an expensive thing – could cost a horse or even thousands of dollars.
Cowboys frequently ride split reins. Buckaroos prefer a mecate or romel reins.
All of these differences are easy to notice.
 Bosal and Mecate Hackamore
 Arizona State Butterfly - Two Tailed Swallowtail We had butterflies coming to the new butterfly garden even before we could get the plants in the ground! Marceline was able to identify 18 species in just over an hour in the butterfly garden. I am still at the yellow, blue, or spotted butterfly id stage. Guess I had better buy a good butterfly guide asap! Here is what we have so far. Everyone is invited to come sit on one of the benches and relax amid the flowers and butterflies.
Two-tailed Swallowtail
Queen
Checkered White
Southern Dogface
Orange Sulphur
Cloudless Sulphur
Dainty Sulphur
Mexican Sulphur
Reakirt’s Blue
Marine Blue
Ceraunus Blue
Lupine Blue
Western-pygmy Blue
Arizona Sister
Variegated Fritillary
Hackberry Emperor
Common Checkered Skipper
Common Buckeye
 Butterfly Garden Before Work Began Our community butterfly garden is done!!! Almost – we ran out of mulch. Thanks to Adriane Grimaldi’s garden design and planning, we planted 75+ butterfly nectar and host plants. The butterflies were checking out the garden while we were still planting. It is a thing of beauty, and it will only get better as plants grow and spread. Doug and Crystal put 2 benches in so people can sit and watch the butterflies. Our photography class participants will be able to get some great close-up photos – and our hikers and horseback riders can just relax and be surrounded by flowers and butterflies.
We had a lot of help and donations on this project. Boyce-Thompson Arboretum donated plants. Our local Home Depot discounted the benches and waterlines and donated plants. Central Arizona Butterfly Association provided info and sent Adriane and Marceline to help identify butterflies here on Eagle Creek and pick a good garden site. Plus our friends and neighbors donated more plants and helped put them in the ground. Adriane and Marceline saw 26 types of butterflies here in a weekend – so I expect to have a quite a butterfly show for guests and neighbors here at the Double Circle.
Thanks to everyone!!!
 Butterfly Garden - Completed  Butterfly Garden During Construction
We recently hired a Nevada buckaroo here on the Double Circle Ranch. I am learning the differences between the Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona cowboys we usually have working at the Double Circle Ranch and a buckaroo. And there are a lot of differences! These are some observations of mine and are certainly not true in all cases. Many cowboys have adopted some buckaroo trends and vice versa. Of course, the country dictates what gear to use also. But this is what I am seeing here at the ranch as far as their clothing.
Cowboys wear the traditional cowboy hat known to everyone who has ever watched a Western on TV. Buckaroos wear a flat-brim, flat-crowned hat.
Cowboys are more likely to wear batwing or shotgun chaps – buckaroos more likely to wear fancy, long fringed chinks called armedas.
Cowboys may wear a belt or suspenders – generally a belt -while buckaroos prefer suspenders.
Cowboys generally wear long sleeve shirts with snap closures and regular collars. Buckaroos wear long sleeved, pocket less, button up shirts with round collars which they keep buttoned up all the way.
Cowboys may use short or tall boots – buckaroos seem to prefer the tall boots.
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