Tucker Ashley was born on May 4, 1944 to Garnard and Esther Brearley Ashley, and raised on the very land he still calls home. As a boy, he attended the Swanson rural school just a mile across the pasture. On good-weather days, he rode his Shetland pony, Betty, to school. When the weather turned bad,  Garnard drove him. In heavy snow, Garnard hitched up a team of horses to get Tucker and his younger brother Todd to class and back.

The Ashley boys grew up in the saddle—riding, training horses, and even riding for Crystal’s grandfather, Iden Myers. Tucker later attended high school in Kimball, followed by his first year of college at SDSU in Brookings. He eventually transferred to Black Hills State, where he graduated with a major in Chemistry and minors in Physics and Psychology. He competed on the rodeo team in bull riding, calf roping, and team roping—though he jokes he quit bull riding the day he fell off in the chute.

After graduation, Tucker considered veterinary school but decided he’d had enough of classrooms. Garnard asked him to come home for the summer to help with haying—and Tucker’s been at the ranch ever since.

Crystal Sharping was born June 25, 1950 to Raymond and Evelyn Myers Sharping. The Sharpings lived in Pukwana (population 263), down the street from the Lutheran Church and across the alley from the Catholic Church. Crystal walked two blocks to Pukwana School, graduating from eighth grade in 1964. Her high school years were spent at Kimball High School. Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell was her choice for college. She graduated in 1971 with History and English majors and Spanish and Business minors.

Tucker and Crystal were married on September 30, 1972, at Pukwana Lutheran Church. During the reception, a fire sparked by a passing train threatened the Ashley Ranch. Garnard, Todd, and a few wedding guests left mid-celebration to fight the blaze. They returned once the fire was out, and the party resumed—classic ranch timing.

The Ashleys raised Hereford cattle and pigs, farming corn and oats on the homestead. After a few years, the family partnership divided: Todd and his wife Shirley took over the north side, while Tucker and Crystal continued on the original homestead to the south. Garnard and Esther lived between the two. Todd raised Santa Gertrudis cattle, while Tucker and Crystal turned their focus to Corrientes, eventually supplying rodeo cattle to stock contractors. For a time, Tucker and Crystal became stock contractors themselves, providing team roping and bulldogging cattle to rodeos around South Dakota. Eventually, they chose to concentrate solely on raising Corriente cattle for their own use in their two rodeo arenas and to sell to rodeo stock contractors.

Tucker and Crystal raised three daughters—Nikki, Jaime, and Carson—all of whom competed in 4-H rodeo, high school rodeo, college rodeo, SD Amateur Rodeo, and semi-pro events. Tucker continued competing too, entering team roping, breakaway roping, and team penning. Both he and Crystal found success in Cowboy Mounted Shooting, winning numerous buckles and prizes. Tucker even qualified twice for the CMSA National Finals in Las Vegas.

Crystal finally realized her dream of riding bucking horses when she enrolled in two rodeo schools, one in Rose Hill, Kansas with the Sankeys and one in Onida SD with the Suttons. She got on 13 head of bucking horses, and never rode the full eight-seconds required. But, it was a great adrenaline rush even though she broke her arm while at the Kansas rodeo school. At the Onida rodeo school Tucker overheard a spectator say, “She must raise some tough colts,” after watching Crystal hit the ground trying to ride a bareback bronc.

Today, Tucker and Crystal still run the Ashley Ranch, raising Corriente cattle and keeping up with the never-ending repairs that come with ranch life. There’s always a fence to fix or a gate to hang, but they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Life is good on the ranch—and there’s no place Tucker and Crystal would rather be.