I’m so excited about this series of Female Farmer Fridays! If you remember back in the summer of 2020 I introduced you to the ladies of INSP’s The Cowboy Way: Misty, Jaclyn, and Kaley. Now I have the pleasure of sharing the stories of three impressive women – Katey Jo, Jennifer, and Hannah – contestants on INSP’s Ultimate Cowboy Showdown. These awesome ladies are smart, talented, tough, and ready to show that the best cowboy might not be a boy.
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Please briefly introduce yourself.

Hi, I’m Hannah Castellitto; I’m 27 years old, and I live in Saluda, South Carolina. I have two younger brothers; my parents and I live on the same ranch, and their house is next to mine (their house is only 100 yards away). My parents and my brothers are my best friends. We do everything together.

What type of farm do you have?

We have a ranch in Saluda that we recently purchased. We moved here from Montana, and we breed running horses, cow horses and cattle.

How long have you been farming/ranching?

I have been ranching my whole life. It’s our way of life, and how I make a living: from the back of a horse.

Do you have an off-farm job?

Ranching is my only job, and it’s a full-time job.

Please share with us one of the biggest struggles you have with farming or ranching.

One of the biggest struggles about ranching is the weather: rain, mud, storms, snow, etc. You still have to feed horses and cows, and clean stalls. With a breeding operation, very often, you have calves and colts being born in bad weather. You have to prevent them from freezing, keep everyone healthy, find where cows recently gave birth, and bring calves up to the barn if they’re sick. We also have to bring newborns to the barn if the weather is bad. It’s not an easy lifestyle.

What is something about your farm or ranch life that you think would surprise most people?

Something about our ranch that may surprise people, is that in addition to training horses, we own a fencing company. We also go to rodeos, give riding lessons, and breed and raise horses and cattle. And everything here is family operated.

What is your vision when it comes to your future in farming or ranching?

When it comes to my future in ranching, my vision is to keep training and teaching others, to breed, raise, ride and sell some of the best cow/running horses on the east coast, and to leave a legacy for the next generation. I hope that I can hand this down to my children.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about farming and ranching?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about ranching is that it’s “fun” or “easy.” People can’t see behind the scenes, where we are breaking ice in water tanks when it freezes, calves and colts being born in terrible weather, doctoring cows, checking fences, constantly putting hay out, and riding and working in all conditions of weather.

What does “Cowboy” mean to you?

To me, a cowboy is someone who can read a cow but who is also a good horseman (to be a good cowboy, you have to have a good horse). A cowboy is also someone who is hard working, honorable, would give someone the shirt off of his/her back, walks in truth, stands up for what’s right, gets a job done, has a lot of integrity, is tough, but kind, and always works hard to leave a legacy with the next generation in mind.

If people want to follow your farm journey, where can they find you?

Instagram: @hannah.cast.xo; Facebook: Hannah Castellitto

In Ultimate Cowboy Showdown, 14 cowboys (men and women) from all across the country compete for a life-changing prize. Each week, viewers will watch the strong-willed cowboys undergo a series of grueling physical and mental challenges that will test them individually and as teams. Chock full of explosive drama, and lots of ego, the last cowboy standing will walk away with a prize package that includes a herd they can take to market, a Rawhide Portable Corral, an Arrowquip Q-Catch 87 Series Cattle Chute, the coveted Ultimate Cowboy Showdown belt-buckle, and a lifetime of bragging rights. Catch the girls when it premieres Wednesday, February 24^th at 9ET/10PT.