What is a gate girl?

Gate girls aren’t super-heroes. We are ranch women. Also know as the “hired-hand”, “the right-hand” and a few other names that pop out in high stress situations!

We don’t get to wear a cool cape or mask, unless you count the camo face mask I wear when the wind chill is negative 10.

We unchain, unwire, untie, swing, drag or carry gates so that trucks, tractors and livestock can go through them.

It doesn’t matter if the dust is blowing, the rain falling or the snow flying. It doesn’t matter if the mud is so deep you lose your boots or the ice is so thick that you have to beat the gate chain loose with a hammer. The work has to be done. The livestock is waiting…for you.

We take care of babies, we feed the hungry and we nurse the sick. Fur, feathers or skin…it doesn’t matter. We care for all of them. We are there at 2 am when a calf has to be pulled, we are knee deep in ice cold water helping repair water-gaps and we are there bright and early waiting for the door to unlock at the parts store. We help build fence, repair machinery and bale hay. We are that second pair of hands that everyone wishes for sometimes. We also do the laundry, pay the bills and keep the books. We clean up mud, blood, manure and oil. And then we clean some more.

Hmmm, maybe we are superheroes.

Is it worth it? Sometimes it’s hard to remember when you are checking cows at 2:00 in the morning and it’s 15 degrees with blowing snow, but it is all worth it.

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And grandchildren playing in the water!

Yup, it’s definitely worth it.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate!