For those of you who expressed interest… just thought I’d let you know… the downed calf died last night. We hadn’t held out much hope for him, the vet says those kinds of injuries (spinal injuries) don’t usually have a good ending. He did have good food and water and care for his last…
Category: Animals
Be Warned
Today started as a normal day… a little laundry and dishes… a tad bit of Christmas music as I started to pull out some Christmas decorations. I hung the garland and lights on my front pole fence. Everything is starting to look “Merry and Bright”! Then Vernon returned from the badlands with a prolapsed cow. …
OOPE Day 3
Today found us on horseback again, trying to beat the bad weather that is rumored to be on its way. Our mission was to gather the calves at the Mills Place and bring them home to our school section. As I’ve done before on working days, I decided to make today an OOPE day –…
OOPE 2
Yesterday I started the Out Of Pocket Experience where you come along on a working day with me… and I take photos as I slave away with the camera winking out of my pocket. No focus, no framing, nothing artistic in evidence. I don’t have time for that, I’m WORKING! Today we finished up the…
Exertional Rhabdomyolysis
On a great day, Lucas strikes a pose… Sounds yucky, huh? Well, I can attest with my hand over my heart, tears in my eyes, and a sinking heart, that it is much more than yucky to witness. What is it? Basically it is when your dog works too hard, add a dose of dehydration,…
Just In Case…
Heading to the bog…. Lucas at the end of the day… tired boy! Just in case you’re under the impression that there is only one working dog on this place… Lucas was along for the trip to the mountain too! Unfortunately, he’s badly worn his paw again, twice losing his boot on earlier small gathers. …
Tired and Muddy
It has been a year since Butcher’s Foothills Elsa has come to live with me onthe ranch. At first glance, she was small but quick, slightly nervous, definitely prone tobarking in situations that make her nervous, lost, looking for love, and willing to pleasesomeone since she had left her Oklahoma home. Within this year we have gone…
Elsa at work
Elsa at work The Bounce. Keep ’em moving. Going in for the bite. Get around, Elsa! Note my shadow… I wanted to post a few pictures of Elsa at work. She has learned so much since she arrived on July 2 of last year. Many times those first few weeks, I wondered if she was…
One more time…
Once again, we were on horseback today. This time to gather the steers off our BLM lease ground. We will be selling them on Monday, so we have to gather, retag, and weigh them. Today was a big gather, though 2 weeks ago we also gathered this pasture and brought home our cows and calves. …
Stories
Well, branding went just peachy! No one got hurt, we had plenty of food and drink, it was a cool, overcast day, and the rain started after lunch! We were a little short on help since it was on a Wednesday, but the 21 people who were there stepped it up and handled things well. We…
Whew…
The view from above…Elsa rests at my feet during a break on a long day of gathering. Never far from where I am, this is typical Elsa. If I’m on horseback, she’s at my horse’s back end on the left side…95% of the time. I didn’t teach her that, maybe that’s where the shade always was! …
Reality
For every person that watched Roy Rogers or Clint Eastwood or Robert Fuller or Lee Horsely and thought, wow, I wanna grow up to be a cowboy… the shine wore off of the romantic version today. We fought hard today to get 175 pairs out of the badlands. We are exhausted, sweaty, sore, and in…