Ranch Activities

Here are the recent ranch activities...

On Sunday, last week, we went out to my grandparents' house and enjoyed getting to talk to them.  Before supper, Dad, Big J., and I went out prairie dog hunting.  Now, to those who don't know what they are, they are merely awful rodents that like to take over pastures.  And for those of you who like to get rid of the pests, you will be glad to hear that we did hit a few.  We shot lots of shells (bullets) and even though we didn't get to bring home any dogs, we had a lot of fun.  Just before coming in to eat, I had the pleasure of killing a rabbit, which we enjoyed at supper.  You know, rabbit, cooked right, tastes like turkey.  Good stuff, I must say!  Thank you, to my grandma for fixing it for us.

On Wednesday, Dad and I took a day trip to CO to pick up some new cows.  We left by 6 something AM and didn't get home until 7 something PM, so yes, it was a big day.  Oh, the fun we had!  Our drive took a few hours just alone, we were shown a little bit of the seller's land, then we were talked into eating dinner with the them, that took two or so hours, and the drive back.  But we had a great father/daughter trip.     

The weather has been doing what ever it wishes lately.  Who would have guessed that we had -1 degrees on Friday with a dusting of snow and then on Saturday 50 degrees with no wind or clouds?  It was perfect riding weather!  We did ride and move our cows/bulls/heifers/calves on that nice day.  It was such a fun ride.  The horses did well and the cattle practically moved themselves with ease.  The bulls didn't fight, which helped everything. 

After the moving of the cattle, we scattered grass seed and messed with our goats.  I caught a goldfish out of our tank and now it is our pet.  Big J. and I busied ourselves throwing ice onto other ice and it turned into a game.  I suppose any kids could enjoy playing with anything if they have the imagination.

Just tonight I finished a pair of reins that I had been working on for my bridle.  (A bridle is what you put on the horse's head to control it.  The headstall goes on the head and reins are connected to it.)  Now, the reins I made are not normal.  If you look at the picture, you will see that they are blue...  Well, they are made out of hay string.  I have yet to see if they really work, but I think they will.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.  Till an idea hits me, bye!  : )

 

 

New Life--New Leg

This month, around the 9th, my heifer, Penelope, had her first calf, a red bull.  But do understand that we do not calve this early normally.  No, Penelope was with a bunch of other cows and bulls and was bred early.  Thankfully, the weather played in her favor and she successfully had her baby without a problem.  We had been checking her whenever we were checking other cows and she looked like she had been nursed.  But we never saw her calf.  We just figured he didn't want to cross the river and thought nothing of it.  Until yesterday when we began moving all of our cows.
Big J. was pushing the other cows/calves/bulls westward and I was riding with Dad to go gather Penelope and her calf to also push to the next pasture.  Well, we found more cows with Penelope and while riding, I wanted to see the little calf more and more.  I had not seen him yet and was excited to be able to.  We crossed the river and looked passed a little group of cows.  There stood the little guy, right by his great mother!  Nothing looked wrong until he took a step.  Dad took a closer look while I thought about how handsome he was.  With in a few moments, Dad declared the calf's leg broke.
Broke?  Yes, and who knows how it happened.  We were very disappointed about it, though.  After making them walk a ways, we decided to leave Penelope and the calf behind while continuing to move the others.  And we finished before too late into the afternoon.
Today we three, Dad, Big J., and I, went back out to the pasture to help the calf with his leg.  It took us a while to find the bull, for his mother had left him and was eating quite a ways away from him.  But, with the help of Penelope and God, we found him resting under a tamarisk.  We had with us two short sticks and some doctor tape.  Dad put the splint on the calf's left front leg while I held and petted him.  (My job was hard...not.)
We fed Penelope some cake (horse and cow treats) and watched the calf walk around.  He got to places pretty well for only having three feet.  And now we will just pray that his leg will heal correctly and quickly.  I sure hope it does!
Till next post!  : )

Penelope with Jr.