10/21/2024
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=940816191415901&id=100064625862077&mibextid=WC7FNe
It was clean up day around here yesterday, riding around picking up strays...those we are aware of anyway. We had a couple old foot rot cows holed up in the bush in pasture two that the cowboss decided had worn out their welcome up there. These ladies had been doctored a couple times each, in an attempt to relieve them of their discomfort, so they were feeling unsociable and had been hanging out grazing the edge of the bush for a month. Every now and then I'd see them as I rode by and they'd slink slowly into the dense brush, heads down and ears flattened, like they were making themselves small. Two thirteen hundred pound bovines making like they were foxes...quite a sight.
So yesterday morning I saddled old roanie and headed off across the frosty grass toward pasture two with my Ting dog leading the way. I figured the two of us would dig those old momma's out of the underbrush into the open and then when Eddy got there we'd decide whether we'd push them to the yard or rope them and load them. Either way, it sounded like a good little warm up job for my dog and my pony.
Now this is not my first rodeo, let me tell you. I went straight to gorilla warfare with these two tree huggers! Having some idea of where they were at I rode the long way around and came at them skulking through the bush, hoping they'd be out and grazing the edge of it. As luck would have it, they were, and my dog and I slid up on them like an Apache warrior of yesteryear. Once they realized I was there they tried to out maneuver me a little, but then gave up and headed for the open ground. They knew that their time was up and with the frost on the grass, the winter feed bunk was calling.
I was riding along behind them, very pleased at how a potentially tough job was lining out and going smoothly. Congratulating myself on my cow whispering skills and the handle on my dog and how my horse was feeling light footed and soft in the bridle. And then old Red in the picture below decided she was tired, and she started looking for a way out. Of course, the sore footed blonde cow that was with her didn't care to go any further either, so every time Red would bust out for the nearest bush, Blondie would stop. Divide and conquer, it was. Of course that game didn't last too long before they both got the idea they could hole up in the center of a clump of thick willows. Ting got to sharpen his fangs on them until they came out of there. Thank goodness that dog has some bite, because those old swing bags would leave one stand of bush and hustle across to the next one. I'd ride hard on the lead cow and get her cut off and the follower would slip in behind me and hide. So I'd turn my attention and my dog on that culprit and the first cow would dig into the bush while I was distracted digging out the second one. And on to the next stand of dam willows we'd go. I was definitely cow whispering loud and clear by this time, let me tell you!
Finally I got both those bovines out on open ground again, and I decided that it was my turn to divide and conquer. I got on Red's butt and took her all the way to the corrals. I might have even let Ting get in a lick or two as well, but I'm not going to incriminate myself.
As I turned to ride back to gather the sore footed blonde cow, I was still feeling pretty good about how the job was going now that it looked like I was back on the winning team. One cow down, one more to go, and I hadn't roped anything I shouldn't have yet. Not bad. There was a time I was cracking out my rope at the first sign of trouble. 🤷
That old blonde cow had decided against coming to the corrals though, and when I got eyes on her again she was headed west at a surprisingly fast clip for being three legged lame. Even when I opened my horse up to get around in her she wasn't giving up the ghost. She spotted a slew hole down in a hollow, with one measly willow tree in it and headed right for that. I'm sure she was hoping she could hide behind that pitiful tree but if not, she had chosen the ground she'd make her final stand on. As she squared off with me, you could almost hear the eerie sound of a train whistle blowing in the distance. We eyeballed one another, and weighed our options.
First I sent Ting in, but that old girl was on the fight and as hard as Ting tried, she had lost the inclination to be driven anywhere. So out came the rope. However I was reluctant to rope her and be holding her and do***ng her for too long because I was sitting on a young horse I'd just sold a few days before, and she was heavy and on the prod. It was bound to be an experience both my horse and I could live without, but then I heard the truck and trailer bouncing across the pasture and realized that help was on the way. Eddy had figured out where I was at when he got there and had brought this sore footed cow a taxi cab. So I stuck a loop on her and set Ting to stepping on her gas peddle to get her out of the slew.
Funny thing is when the truck and trailer pulled up, Eddy got out and walked down into the hollow and slapped her on the butt with a cane and she proceeded to walk up the hill to the trailer like a milk cow. A little bit of pushing and pulling and "Ting get her up" just to remind us that she's a bovine and does what she wants WHEN it's her idea, but then she flounced onto the trailer like, "You may take me to the corrals now. Tootaloo!!"
Cows! 🤦
Have a good day folks! ☺️
