Heather Smith Thomas and her husband raise beef cattle and horses on a ranch in the mountains of eastern Idaho. Heather writes regularly for more than 25 farm and livestock magazines and about 30 horse publications. She has sold more than 11,000 stories and articles, and published 20 books. Here she is pictured with one of her own ranch horses: a mare named “Ed.” Now in her twenties, Ed continues to be one of the ranch’s best cow horses and is often ridden by Heather’s nine-year-old granddaughter.