It’s your not-so-typical love story. Girl meets boy, gets married, moves to a 14,000-acre cattle ranch, takes on vast ranching responsibilities while raising two toddlers, and somehow manages to accomplish everything with a genuine smile. Meet Alie McKee, Santa Margarita Ranch’s do-it-all dynamo.
Alie and her husband Jeff are the ranch’s “keepers of the herd.” Jeff was already living on the property as ranch manager when they married in 2006. Alie stepped right into the role of rancher alongside her husband and never looked back. Today they have two children—Coard, aged five; and Casey Mae, aged two-and-a-half. And while motherhood has changed Alie’s day-to-day life, it hasn’t slowed her down one bit.
In celebration of Women’s History Month in March, we caught up with Alie to learn more about her journey to Santa Margarita Ranch, and her daily life as a working mother and cowgirl.
When you first moved to the ranch, surely you knew what you were getting into, right?
Yes! However, I was never officially hired, I just showed up and started working with Jeff, and it grew from there. Out here, the work becomes an inseparable part of your lifestyle.
Jeff and I already had a lot in common when we met. I grew up on the eastern side of the Sierras, and I was very involved in a family friend’s ranch throughout my childhood, riding horses and moving cows. I attended Cal Poly and studied Animal Science with a minor in equine science, and I later became involved in the horse industry and raised show horses. So I wasn’t a newbie when I moved to the ranch. I knew my way around a horse, that’s for sure.
So what is a day in the life like for you and Jeff?
Never a dull moment, that’s for sure. Jeff is carrying more of the ranching load these days, but we’re both on call 24/7. One day we might have a sick orphan calf that needs feeding every two hours, another day you get a call from the CHP in the middle of the night because someone drove through the fence. And no one can take over for you—there’s so much responsibility, and you can’t just explain to people here’s what we do and then take off for the weekend. You can’t really turn it off.
But I don’t want to make it sound like we’re prisoners! For us it’s not work, it’s just life. We get to be out on the most beautiful ranch and raise our kids and have the whole run of the land, so it’s kind of its own vacation, too. We make it fun. For example, we might wait for a Sunday to move the cows, and bring the kids and some food, and then make a picnic out of it afterward.
And what they say about cowboys is true—it’s their job, but also their identity. What they do on their days off is still cowboy things like riding, going to rodeos, roping and helping friends. It’s who we are and what we do.
What’s your favorite Ancient Peaks wine?
Our favorite is the Renegade red blend, and not just because of the name. We also love the Cabernet Sauvignon. We often share them with friends, and it’s neat to show them wines that comes from the ranch we live on.