Over a thousand miles of country between our destination, two Midwest families took off for West Utah. Drawn by the promise of a rare cowboy and cowgirl experience, we set up camp outside of Salt Lake City for the 32nd annual Antelope Island State Park Bison Roundup.

Story and photography by Ann Millington. Visit her work here.

Beginning with an all-rider meeting after sunrise, we donned our Stetsons and greeted nearly 300 riders. Our saddled horses were shaking with nerves, hooves pounding the ground, neighs going up across the hills. 

We rode 15 miles, herding hundreds of buffalo across the hills, up Heartbreak Hill and down through the rocks to new grazing land. It was a long, amazing day on horseback. The experience was even more rewarding with good company, sturdy horses, a classic Stetson, and a successful buffalo roundup.

We took a brief break from sin city and all of the 60th Las Vegas NFR festivities to join Shelby M Hall and father, Roger for a desert getaway to discuss the time-honored tradition of attending and supporting family members participating at the rodeo.

(Photo Above) Shelby wears the Western Snap Front Shirt and Shasta 10X Premier Cowboy Hat. Roger wears the Shasta in black.

Photography by Heath Herring.

Roger is a horseshoer and rancher in Nashville, TN. He’s been attending NFR for years supporting his favorite rodeo participants and brought his daughter this year, continuing this tradition through the generations.

Roger wears the Altan Black Goat Hand Stitched Boot.

Shelby wears the Embroidered Tencel Blend Jacket.

Behind every great daughter is a truly amazing dad.

Shop the looks during NFR at Stetson Country Christmas at Sands Expo, Cowboy Christmas at Mandalay Bay and the Las Vegas Convention Center daily 10am-5pm until Sunday, December16, 2018.

Stetson and Taylor Stitch went on the road with photographer Brent Whaley and artist Shane Miller from Joshua Tree to Alabama hills and onto Yosemite.

Shane Miller is a self-taught artist who’s work explores the emotions of dreams, distant memories, and silent emotions left unexpressed. Through a contemporary approach, Shane depicts the landscapes of the mind in a way to allow the viewer to reflect on their own experiences. Shane wears the Dune 5X Gun Club Hat in Acorn

Shane and Brent met over a year ago when Brent drove down to Nashville, TN to pick up a piece Brent comissioned from Shane. The two struck up a friendship while visiting different bars around Nashville and have since been on a few adventures together.

The apparel Shane wears is by Taylor Stitch, products built for the long haul and use the most sustainable fabrics available – even if that means making it themselves.

Shane draws inspiration from his outdoor adventures.

“We are a two-man show, a modern-day mom & pop shop, and we look to this season as a time for recharging.”-Sara Mae Zandi

Stetson visits the power couple in Bovina, NY at their Brushland Eating House to connect with them on the transition from the warm, bustling summer months to the now cold, sleepier winter months. Photography by Noah Kalina. Follow his work here.

Sara wears the West Bound B Limited Edition in Caribou and Sohail wears the Open Road Royal Deluxe in Sage.

Winding down rural roads, preserved post & beam barns and wide pastures bespeckled with cattle, you might imagine that this is the kind of town, as it may seem in constant contrast to New York City, that always sleeps. Save for the few chimneys piping out tiny whispers of wood smoke and the occasional rumbling tractor, Bovina can feel the kind of quiet that you only read about in verse. It is Fall, the last of the ochre leaves have drifted, like parchment from a slick counter, out into the wind and for goodness sake, the tiny hamlet needs a break.

The warmer months, with their gaggle of visitors, clambering for pond dips, is a whirlwind of energy —— for Sara & Sohail of Brushland Eating House, it is ‘season.’ Nestled into a town that for a stint was the dairy capital of the nation, Brushland is now, like the creameries were then, the anchor of Bovina. In the summer months leading to September, early mornings blur into dusk. Wine, bottle by bottle, go empty. Tables, stay full. Upstairs, at the Inn, chess pieces bounce and records blare Sam Cooke. Feet march up and down the stairs with more and more wildflowers picked. It’s Summer, after all, and town is abuzz with revelers.

For the love of homesteading, Sara & Sohail’s life when it’s this warm, looks quite like a Norman Rockwell; a flock of chickens peck furiously at stone walls, their dogs meandering in and out of the feeding frenzy. In the garden, squash the size and color of those in fairy tales, wind in and out of meticulously maintained beds, most of which are teeming with peas and radishes and borage and chamomile. Chores, inn-keeping and food preparation collide with midday swims and watermelon gulping, making for a cacophony that can only be described as ‘happy, delirious chaos.’

In the cool, sleepier months, there must be a reset. Neither a hard button to press nor a changing of the guard, it is about stealing away into peaceful, dim corners of the same spaces that once overflowed with full bellies and joyous laughter. Nodding off again after a coffee in bed, tucking into the patch of light on the guest room floor, kicking a foot onto the desk and leaning back, just for some quick shut-eye before the shop is open. For in a few short months when the hills are awash in a plethora of greens and golds, and the hay trailers rumble past at a furious pace, and guests check in one after another after another, we can fondly look back on the hush that was.

by Nick Pacione

‘Off the Open Road’

At the end of the open road lies a new one.. a path less paved where nothing’s for certain.
At the end of the open road, you replace what you know with what you’re learning.
Where there’s less signage and more pondering— less control and more feeling.

There are places just beyond the open road where few have wandered,
and fewer still have lingered.
Places just beyond the open road where our frontier is still expanding.

Where what you’ve seen and heard of slips into unknowing.
Where the trees sway in rhythm and the wind does its singing.
Where the sky’s always shifting, and some kind of balance— persisting.

Off the open road, man’s domain becomes nature’s.
A place where we can teach ourselves to slow down and listen.
Dark nights are darker, and brighter stars glisten.

Off the open road is the beginning of a new one… a path less paved where nothing is for certain.
Off the open road, you leave the world you left and become what you’re becoming.
Somewhere off the open road,
you find what you’ve been missing.

—Nick Pacione

The SEAGER X STETSON Collaboration has arrived. Shop the Bull Session 4x Hat and the Lasso Crushable Outdoor hat at seagerco.com.

Imagery shot with Seager Co alongside Ryan Valasek for the Fall 2018 launch in Montana
Talent: Tanner Johnson

The Seager x Stetson ‘Lasso’ Outdoor Crushable is constructed of crushable wool felt and features a pinch front crown, leather hat band and an adjustable leather chin strap. Made in USA. 3 1/2″ Brim. Seager and Stetson in Good Company. The West, as it once was.

The Seager x Stetson ‘Bull Session’ is the Seager Co take on an original early 20th century Stetson. It features a cattleman crown and ribbon hat band. 4X quality wool felt, made in the USA. 3 1/2″ brim with Western flange and a custom Seager horseshoe pin. Seager and Stetson in Good Company. The West, as it once was.