Milan motel serves cattle and horses

Hailey, Virginia and Braylin Chaffin take a break at Chaffin's Ranch and Rope Supply in Grants on Tuesday. Virginia and her husband Ken recently moved their store from its location on Highway 605 to an area behind Love's truck stop near the interstate. "It's done real well," Virginia said of the new location. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

Chickens poke their heads from their cages to eat at Chaffin's Ranch and Rope Supply in Grants on Tuesday. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

MILAN — A business that primarily caters to hundreds of team ropers, rodeo participants and area ranches and farms has recently moved to Milan from the rural part of Cibola County.

"Rodeo is getting big, and team roping in this area is even bigger," said Virginia Chaffin, co-owner of Chaffin's, with her husband Kenneth.

"We moved to Milan because no one could find us out in the county," she said. The store, which is now just north of Interstate 40, exit 79, behind Love's Truck Stop, was previously about four miles north on State Route 605.

Cattle and horse motel
The Chaffins, also have a unique business that still remains in the county they own a cattle and horse motel.

Images of cattle and horses sleeping in motel rooms and watching TV were quickly doused when Virginia Chaffin said it is like a stable, not a human type motel.

Spring and summer are here, so the cattle and horse travel business has fallen off, but in the fall and winter Chaffin's serves about six to seven truck trailers per week, each with about 38 cows that average around 2,000 pounds apiece. They also serve trucks that bring lighter, younger cows, about 150 per truck, she said. The motel serves horse transporters as well.

The drivers cannot drive more than 12 hours at a time and this stop allows them to rest. It also allows the cattle and horses to stretch their legs, eat, drink and rest before continuing on their journey, she said.

There are many dairy farms and cheese companies springing up in California, and dairy cows are being shipped to the farms to be bred and then produce, she said.

There are emerging dairy farms in Clovis as well, and cows are being shipped there too, she said.

Chaffin's sells hay to ranchers, ropers, rodeo competitors and it is good, three wire hay, she said.

"Three wire hay is a larger bale of hay with three wires around it," she said.

Plenty of tack
The store in Milan also provides a complete line of tack items, such as bridles, saddles, horse feed, ropes and more.

She said there are thousands of horses in this region with more than 1,000 team ropers who compete in rodeos. There is a roping pen at the store also, but the Chaffins do not plan to use it very often, in order to be good neighbors to an RV park adjacent to the pen; and the fact that they have to apply to the village every time for a special use permit.

The store recently had a grand opening with a large team roping event drawing more than 80 pairs of team ropers and awarding $38,000 in cash and prizes, she said.

Chaffin's also provides a trucking service as a subcontractor to Lee Ranch Coal Co., providing service 24 hours every day, seven day per week, year round, she said. They use welders, truck drivers and mechanics in that part of the business.

Chaffin's in Milan is at 1700 Juniper Ave., behind Love's in a large metal building. The telephone number is (505) 285-6608.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or fax: (505) 287-2581.