If there was a “Best” RanchHER Award, it might go to Sarah Kiekhefer. She triumphs in every arena of her life, finding time to do it all, and seems to run on zero sleep. She’s also a top-notch ranch mama, teaching her daughter to rope and ride better than the boys just like her.
By day, she and her husband, Rick, oversee operations of K4 Ranches, which now encompasses the historic Diamond A Ranch, the largest ranch in Arizona. By night, Sarah shines in the rodeo arena, showcasing her athletic prowess. Doing both is a challenge she tackles with a big heart and unyielding ambition. She somehow also finds spare time to give back to her local rodeo community. Previously a WPRA director for six years, she now produces a local barrel race in Prescott.
Ranchers Rooted in Rodeo
Sarah grew up in Colorado, where her parents worked in feed yards. However, she fell in love with Prescott after spending a summer with her aunt as a child. Her family moved there shortly after, and that’s when she started entering rodeos and learned to embrace her competitive spirit.
“I am a very competitive person,” Sarah laughs. “Growing up with a brother who was just as competitive, I always had to prove that I was stronger and faster than him.”
Sarah and Rick met as preteens while competing in a junior rodeo, her racing barrels and him tie-down roping. They started dating a few years later when she was a senior in high school and he was a freshman in college, bonding over their roots in agriculture and shared love of rodeo.
Kicking in at K4 Ranch
Sarah and Rick live on K4 Ranch today, raising cattle, colts, and their daughter. This portion of their ranching enterprise has been in Rick’s family for over 100 years; it was homesteaded in the 1800s, and his grandfather gained full ownership of the property in 1941. Together, they’ve expanded the operation tremendously over the last decade.
K4 Ranches now includes Rick’s legacy land, along with the 3T Feed Yard in southern Arizona. The 3T Feed Yard is a cow/calf and commodity beef operation that produces both commodity beef and choice cuts to supply its own gourmet boxed beef program. Additionally, K4 Ranches acquired the iconic Diamond A Ranch, the largest ranch in Arizona.
Diamond A’s owner, Harvey A., approached them and formed a partnership a few years back. Sarah says it was a tough decision for her and Rick that required some soul-searching, but they decided to try it. Sadly, Harvey passed away shortly after their partnership was formed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were faced with another tough decision, but Sarah and Rick chose to carry on Harvey’s vision and buy out his portion of the cattle business.
“Rick was like, ‘We have to do this because that’s what Harvey wanted to do,'” Sarah tearfully explains. “There was no looking back.”
Branding Season
When we visited Sarah on her ranch, it was branding season. Since their ranch has a large footprint, it takes a team of ranchers to move cattle, split off some for sale, pull the dry cows, and then rope, brand, vaccinate (and sometimes castrate) the calves. They work together seamlessly, like a dance, where men and women move together in perfect rhythm. While they work, they sear up the Rocky Mountain Oysters on the branding iron grill — a high-protein snack for the cowboys and a right-of-passage to initiate new team members.
“Especially in the ranch world, there’s not a lot of women,” Sarah says, “It was always a man’s world, and you have to keep up with them. You’re not ever going to be as strong, but you can still do as good as them.”
In addition to their traditional cow/calf operation, K4 finishes some of the cattle—specifically ones that are genomically tested to produce prime or heavy choice beef—which they make to sell both wholesale through commodity beef markets and in the direct-to-consumer market. The choice cuts are sold in their on-site ranch market, but they also launched their boxed beef program, K4 Gourmet Beef, around four years ago.
The Art of the Cowgirl
But their operation’s reach doesn’t end with beef. That’s just the start. By the time the branding is done, it’s only noon, and time to shift their focus to the ranch’s more than 300 horses, Sarah’s biggest source of pride and pain. Each year the Kieckhefers host The Legacy Ranch Horse Sale, putting up for auction breeding stock, prospects, and geldings from the K4 Ranch and Diamond A Ranch.
“Every year, the night after the horse sale, I cry,” Sarah tells Janie. “If I know the buyer, I’ll go and visit them.”
She sorts the mares, pairs them with studs, and decides which to sell and which to raise, train, and ride. Sarah’s favorite part of the operation is dealing with the horses because they present a greater challenge, a faster pace, and more thrill.
“Cattle are slow and meticulous,” Sarah explains, “Horses, you never know what they’re going to do. You’re never going to outrun a horse.”
Sarah’s passion for the rodeo goes hand-in-hand with raising and training horses. While she’s also an accomplished breakaway roper and team roper, she’s a barrel racer at heart.
“I like to go fast,” Sarah says. “It’s all that matters.”
Catch the new episode of RanchHER featuring Sarah Kieckhefer when it premieres next Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 9:00 PM ET only on RFD-TV. Watch encore airings on Fridays at 9:30 PM ET and Saturdays at 11:30 AM ET.
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