The guys did “clean-up” today…
Reriding the pasture…
Looking for the few head we were short.
One wild cow had jumped into the neighbor’s and they were nice enough to bring her home.
They covered lots of country and found three lone heifers down in the cedars.
It’s easy to see how you can overlook some critters in the cedars.
Me?
I stayed home.
I had a dog day…
and it wasn’t that fun…
at least for Elsa!
Yesterday, I let Elsa and Lucas work the morning shift. It was a gather in the pasture around my house… and Lucas was overly enthusiastic. He doesn’t get to work often enough and can occasionally use his “selective hearing”. That got him a kick in the teeth. He lapped blood for the next hour… but it must have been just a split lip or cut tongue. He wasn’t suppose to chase that cow anyway, so I was unsympathetic.
He was kenneled at lunch. He’d had enough.
He was replaced with Dally and Elsa was still enthusiastic… so I let her come as well.
The trail after lunch is only 3 or 4 miles… but I “lost” a cow… kinda sorta… another long story… and the girls think they have to be with me. That cost them another few miles at a fast trot. Then we hit the Richie pasture and cockleburs.
Not burdock.
The cockleburs from hell.
Porcupine eggs.
They HURT.
Even through gloves they can light you up!
I know.
Because of this.
Elsa has fine hair.
Cockleburs love her.
They’re in her mane…
They’re in her feathers and her britches…
Her armpits and her belly.
Her tail.
Oh, my, her lovely plume of a tail…
She pulled up lame.
She kept working though.
Sometimes she’d squeak when she’d turn or speed up and a cocklebur would gouge her.
Poor little thing.
Finally the horsetrailer arrived to rescue us… and I loaded her up. She didn’t like that… and barked and barked as I headed to catch up to the herd without her. She rode for half a mile and jumped out when Vernon stopped the pickup. She came to help me. Another quarter mile and we were done, this time she loaded herself!
A good supper, an aspirin, and a quick trim of the burrs on her sides… and she’d had enough of me. She wouldn’t let me close to her again, and I turned her out for the night.
This morning I cornered her and demanded that she allow my help.
Two hours later… I had a gallon of cockleburs and hair.
Her tail is pitiful.
Her belly almost bare.
But she sighed with relief… finally…
and she slid into a blissful rest.
She’d had enough, but I might polish her up some… she deserves a makeover!
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Q & A Sunday night… post your questions!
I created a Facebook page for Red Dirt in My Soul… if you’re interested, come visit!
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November 5, 2009 It is Thursday… Puppy Day… Uhhh… About that…
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