The stinking wind blew ALL NIGHT, stirring up the ash and making our world smoky again… but we had heifers to trail back to their home… so we tried to get up and going early, but my, oh, my! It was HOT. Almost 80 at 6:30 in the morning. Bleh. Elsa was Dog of the…
Tag: cattle drive
No Popcorn
Lest you doubted my story of rain yesterday… which continued throughout the night and morning and has recently restarted… We’re almost to 2″ of rain… which, by Wyoming terms, is 1/7 of our yearly moisture! When the clouds lifted this afternoon… Yup. No surprise there. Boy, I’m glad we’re not riding today! My opinion on…
Good Timing
While I was working at the library yesterday, the guys gathered our mountain pasture and kicked them into a smaller “holding” pasture. That meant leaving first thing for the mountain to trail them down. Dally was Dog of the Day… Lucas is prohibited from that drive, and Elsa would have been Extremely Sore… so Dally…
Minute Movie – “Ride Along”
Come with me in the early morning light through sagebrush taller than Panama… Pick your way through the maze and watch as Dally urges some cattle onwards… The cows bellow for their calves, and the calves bawl back, a pingpong serenade of “Where are you?” in Bovinese. Welcome to the Cowboy Life. Minute Movie…
Dog Gone Long Day
Saturday’s trail drive covered about 12 miles. The elevation rose from 5100′ to about 7700′. It took from about 5 am to 4 pm. Of course, we had two stops to rest in there, once after a big hill climb, once for lunch. We then waited two more hours to let them settle down and…
Bits of My Day
Yup. Pretty much recovered… although I haven’t had a very stressful day. The guys have, as they were called out on a lightning fire this afternoon. It was popping all around us, and I was sent to watch for smoke around here, while the guys went to the fire. The plan was to call dispatch…
One Day
We moved the last of our cattle that are down low to our Mesa Pasture early this morning. Dally was my dog of the day… and it wasn’t very long before she was soaking wet from the heavy dew that lay on the grass and in the willows. It was easy to see how she’s…
And Your Day?
at the barn at 5 am. get cows to mountain in good time. destination covered in timothy grass in full pollen. allergic to timothy. sneeze. find out we’re moving MORE cattle. sneezesneeze. ride to next pasture. sniffsneeze. almost fall off colt. adrenalin helps me forget about allergies momentarily. cattle are not in pasture. find cattle….
Appreciate the View
The past two days have been Cowboy Days. With the water situation finally resolved in one pasture, and the lease of another pasture, we could finally move some cattle to higher range! Yay! Cattle don’t do as well in hot weather… and we’ve had plenty of that lately. They were very happy to move up,…
Work Myself Warm
Plink. Plink. Splat. The raindrops serenaded me as I sat in my saddle. Each drop sounded different depending on if it landed on my oilskin slicker or my saddle leather. Those that landed on Panama were absorbed quietly. The grass caught each drop with a satisfied sigh. My eyes were closed and I concentrated. Warmth…
Wordless Wednesday – “Oh, Pairs…”
Couldn’t decide what to use… More flowers? Today’s little branding? Finally… pick one! OK. I guess… oh! Pairs Headed Home. **** June 15, 2010 Crane In Grass June 15, 2009 High Winds June 15, 2008 D Revisits Puppy Soccer
After the Show Show
The thing about this past branding… When we’re done branding and eating… We’re NOT finished. There’s one big obstacle left called, in usual imaginative Wyoming terms, “The Big Grey Ridge”. So everyone that has brought a pony, and has the time to help, joins in. The first part is easy. The second part can be…