1907:  Theodore and Elizabeth Ridder moved their young family from northeast Nebraska to their newly-purchased ranch west of Callaway in 1907. Here they built a business and raised 11 children, among them two Catholic nuns, ranchers, a mechanic, a dentist, an interior designer with a PhD, and a Naval aviator instructor.

4th generation:   Aside from the year on the calendar, little has changed on our 4th generation ranch all these years. We still fix fence, repair windmills, put up hay in the summer, calve out cows, brand and wean, check pastures, and contend with severe drought, cyclonic blizzards, early and late frosts, too little or too much wind, wild temperature swings, undependable markets, serious world affairs, and two and four-legged varmints.

 Rewarding:   The work on a ranch is rarely easy but it's often rewarding. We enjoy the fact that we plan our day, seeing a project through to its completion, and realizing first-hand the outcome of our management and our muscle. 

 A Year:     From using newer technologies such as ultrasound to time-proven practices like rotating pastures and pairing out in the spring, our ranch goes through cycles and seasons. Our guests are often amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge necessary to manage and operate a ranch, let alone a purebred ranch.