A ranch family throws a 100-square-mile block party

The Double Rafter Ranch near Parkman held its neighborhood block party and kids' rodeo again, Cowboy State Daily reported. Out there, the "block" is about 100 square miles. Guests brought a dish and, if they had one, a horse. Families without a horse could borrow one.

The gathering grew out of the Kerns-Warner family. Chelsie Kerns-Warner said they already had an arena, so loading a horse and hauling it to town to run barrels in someone else's dirt did not make sense. They threw their own rodeo instead. Krayton Kerns tilled the arena dirt, and the children picked out rocks. Six-year-old Dorothy Bratton, who came from Casper with her family, rode a horse named Sweetgrass that preferred the grass. Her dad, Richie Bratton, put on running shoes and led the horse through the barrel course while Dorothy hung on and told him to go faster.