And They Became Cowgirls
Hi everybody! It's me, your favorite cow-horse, Shakespeare!
One of the things I like most about going to Natural Horsemanship clinics is all the nice horses I meet. And most of them have pretty nice humans to go along with them! I was at a clinic in Oklahoma a while back, and started visiting with some of the horses about what it's like working cows. They couldn't get enough of my stories! Unfortunately, it was only a weekend clinic, and most of the day had to be dedicated to teaching our humans how to think like a horse. A couple of real nice ladies at the clinic talked to Dad about working cattle, and how it's done. I'm fixing to tell ya'll about it.
We don't get much company at the Rafter G. We're not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but you can hit it with a rock from the front porch. Well, Dad had been visiting with a couple of real nice ladies from the Oklahoma clinic about cow working. It turns out that Yvonne and Leslie were going to be at a cow working clinic sometime later in the year, and wanted a little bit of a head-start. They worked out the details, and the Okies came out for some real life cow working.
It's a long way to the Rafter G from northern Oklahoma, and the gals got here in the middle of the night. Next morning came fairly early, but the gals were up for it. When they came down to the barn to get acquainted, I recognized them both from the clinic. And they recognized me, too! I got a lot of petting and how ya been's. Yeah, I like a little extra attention. We horses ate our breakfast while Dad took Yvonne and Leslie for a quick tour. Then they picked out the horses they wanted to ride. (Dad had told them they could bring their own horses if they wanted to, but it's really better to learn how to work cattle on a seasoned cow-horse who already knows what to do.)
I knew I wasn't going to get to go on the excursion. Dad had gone to Midland a couple of days before, and brought home two new horses, Cayman and Foxfire. Cayman is a six year old gelding, and Foxfire is a good looking ten year old mare. Cayman had worked cattle before, Foxfire hadn't. I knew Dad was going to ride Foxfire to check her out. Leslie picked Cayman, and Yvonne picked Nocona, the big black ranch gelding.
The gals began to get acquainted with their horses, playing the seven games that PNH teaches. These gals are both real good at the games, and before long, they had a good relationship with their horses. They saddled up, trailered, and away they went. The rest of the story is second hand from Nocona. But I trust his memory of the events.
They met one of the neighbors, Jeff, at the first pasture. Jeff was riding his big paint gelding, Cooper.
The first thing Dad wanted to show them, was how to approach a herd of cattle. Now, keep in mind that the gals hadn't been around cattle much, but brother, they could ride. If you can ride, just let the cow-horse do the work and learn from him! Back to approaching cattle. Dad had them stop and watch him and Foxfire approach the herd. Most folks who haven't been around cattle seem to think the thing to do when working cattle is yell and whistle, and whooopie ki-yi! That's not the way it is at all. Dad showed them how to walk into the herd without disturbing them much, just nice and easy. He meandered around through the herd, then came back out and had them try it, one at a time. Too many horses will get the herd stirred up a little. The gals both did great.
Next thing Dad wanted to show them was how to split a herd. So they focused on a point in the middle of the herd, rode into the herd together, and created a gap in the middle of the herd. The gals were paying attention, and catching on. Dad showed them the drive line of a calf... roughly the same as a horse. The drive line of a calf is the shoulder. Go in front of the shoulder to move the calf backwards, and behind the calf to get him to move forward. Then it was time to teach them how to cut a calf out of the herd. Dad showed them, and then let them try it. I was real proud of Foxfire. She'd never been around cattle at all, but the first time Dad put her on a calf, she pinned her ears and got on him like an old pro! And that, my friends, is the product of good breeding. She has "cow" all up and down her bloodlines.
Back to the story. Dad went into the herd and singled out a calf. He moved him from the middle of the herd to the edge at a walk, barely disturbing the rest of the calves. How? One word... focus. When Dad goes through a herd, he's looking at all the calves, checking for sickness or bloat. When he finds one he wants to cut out, his life comes up and his intent focus brings the horse's focus on that calf. Then they work as one to get the calf out of the herd and rope him, or whatever needs to be done. So Dad and Foxfire pulled a calf out of the herd, held him out a while, then let him rejoin the herd. Leslie's turn. She picked out her calf, eased into the herd, and her and Cayman cut that calf out like a couple of old pros. Nice work, Leslie. Now Yvonne's turn. Dad teased her about visiting with Jeff too much and not really paying attention. And I wish I could come up with something to get her goat, cause she is fun to tease with. But the fact of the matter is that she and Nocona slipped into the herd and popped a white calf out just as smooth as you please. You'd have thought she had grown up on a ranch. She held him out a while, then let him rejoin his brothers.
They all rode together to check another group of calves. As they were riding along, Jeff and his big Paint were riding next to Leslie. Sometimes Cooper (Jeff's Paint) sports a little attitude. And when humans are busy visiting, they sometimes miss the signs that something is about to happen. Cooper kept trying to intimidate Cayman, but Cayman would have nothing of it. Cayman kicked the thunder out of Cooper! I mean hard! Right below the hip. He pinned his ears and swished his tail a couple of times, then just let him have it. Cooper limped along for a little while, then he was fine. What is the lesson to be learned here? If you're riding horses that haven't gotten acquainted yet, pay attention to their body language. They'll tell you what's about to happen. Even if you are visiting, you can still watch the horse's body language.
Anyway, they got to the next group of calves. Dad found a calf who was bloating. When the wheat grows real fast, and the calves are chowing down all day long, sometimes their systems get stopped up. I guess it has something to do with their four stomachs or something. Come on, it's a little too technical for a horse. All I know is they fill up with air... the left side pooches way out and higher than their spine, like they swallowed a big balloon or something. If you don't help them, they'll die soon. There are a couple of ways to help a bloated calf. First, you run them. I mean you get on them like you're about to rope them, and you stay on them. Run them hard until you get them to give a stool sample. When this happens, whatever has clogged the system (usually a clump of wheat) has dislodged and the calf will be all right. Sometimes you can't get them to get a bowel movement, and you have to go to plan B. Plan B is to rope, throw, and hog-tie them. Then take a piece of hose and run it down their throat till it clears whatever is stopping them up. Plan C is usually a last resort. If the calf is about to get to a critical stage, or you don't have a tube, you go to plan C. You take your knife, and puncture the bulge at it's highest point. This lets the gas out, and doesn't seem to hurt the calf.
So Dad found a calf that was bloating, and let Leslie cut him out of the herd. Then he told Leslie to get on the calf and run him. This is really about the only time we run calves, unless we are roping. We like to handle them slow and easy. Leslie got on this calf, with Dad close behind giving her instructions as to where to be. She did a good job of staying on the calf, as he was juking and jiving, trying to get away. She ran him till he had a bowel movement, and Dad called her off. A little bit later, Dad found another bloated calf, and let Yvonne have a turn. She got on this calf and worked him like an old pro. These gals knew how to ride! Yvonne and Nocona ran this calf till he gave a stool sample and Dad told her to let him back into the herd. You should have seen the big smile on Yvonne's face when she rejoined Dad, Leslie, and Jeff. I think the gals were enjoying themselves. Dad found another bloat, and everybody had a turn. One would run him, then they'd switch off. Leslie was on him when Dad decided to go to plan C. He called Leslie off, pulled his Buck knife from the pocket of his chinks, and had Foxfire get him up next to the calf. As he got next to her, he leaned over the side and stuck her.... Psssssst, out went the gas! Leslie couldn't believe what she had just seen. And don't try this at home. It's dangerous to ride with a knife in your hand. Dad's a professional.
Dad explained to the gals why he did what he did, and they eased through the rest of the calves. They were fine, so everybody trailered up, and headed to town for Mexican food.
After lunch, they headed off to check on Dad's calves at Don Gilreath's place over at Lazbuddie. Don's a heckuva nice old gentleman, and very possibly the best farmer in the county. Don's 71 years old, and still going strong. And he's got a great sense of humor, as Yvonne and Leslie found out. Don teased Yvonne about her hat, which was a rabbit fur lined, ear-flap kind of hat that you don't see out in these parts very often. Did I say very often? What I meant to say, is Yvonne is the first person who has ever worn a hat quite like that in the county! But hey, she's a good enough rider to wear any kind of hat she dang well please, thank you very much. And it kept her ears warm on the cool West Texas morning.
So they rode through Dad's big steers at Don's place. Dad wanted the gals to learn how to drive a herd, so they pushed the steers from the far pasture to the pasture next to the barn. There weren't any bloats to worry about on this pasture, just big, fat steers. So they gave their horses a drink and visited with Don a while. Then it was on to the last pasture. Jeff had some other things he needed to do, so he headed on. Dad and the Gals went to the next pasture.
On the way to the pasture, they stopped by the Rafter G. Leslie had brought a video camera, and had left it in her car. They picked it up and headed to the pasture to check out the last group of calves. The calves were about a quarter of a mile from the gate where Dad and the gals entered the pasture. As they got closer, Dad had Leslie show him how to work the video camera, and let the gals go into the herd. First, Leslie went in, picked out her calf, and cut him away from the herd in no time at all. She did a fine job of becoming a cow girl. Then Yvonne went in. She and Nocona cut out a heifer and worked her away from the herd. Then they held her out. She had Nocona faced up with this calf, and every move the calf made was blocked as soon as it happened. It looked good, real good. And it's documented on film. Of course, Dad's not the best camera man in the world. Especially from a moving horse. Some of the early footage showed a lot of sky as Dad lost the rider and calf in the viewfinder. But he did a good job of narrating the filming, so the gals let him slide.
Everybody picked out a few more calves to get all the experience they could get from the short trip to the Rafter G. Dad took a turn when he found a bloated calf. He found another bloated calf and let Yvonne and Leslie cut him out and run him till things loosened up. It was a beautiful sunset as they headed back to the trailer. Yvonne started working with Nocona a little bit, to bend his neck and get collected. Nocona is no dressage horse, just a big old ranch gelding. Keep in mind that he's sixteen years old, too. But in only a few minutes, Yvonne had him ready to go to a hunter/jumper show. Why do I mention that? In case you think a horse can't get collected wearing just a snaffle... an older horse who's never been ridden that way. If you know how to ride, and have good communication with your horse, anything can be accomplished! And it's documented on film, if you don't believe me.
So the day was done, and everybody had a good time. Dad, Yvonne, and Leslie watched the video of the last pasture after a good steak supper, wishing they'd have remembered the video camera earlier in the day. Next morning, Yvonne and Leslie came down to the barn with Dad to feed. They were walking a little slower than yesterday. When Yvonne petted me, she whispered that both she and Leslie were a little bit sore. The type of riding they did in the pastures was quite different than what they were used to. Added to the fact that she hadn't had much opportunity to ride all winter. I told her I wouldn't tell anyone, but....
So Yvonne and Leslie got in the car and started their eight hour trek back to Oklahoma. They came to the Rafter G as good riders, and left as genuine, bona fide, certified cowgirls. Everybody had a lot of fun, and learned a lot from each other. One of the nice thing about PNH folks.... they are good people. And anyone else who wants a little hands on cow working is welcome to come out. Just let me know and I'll set it up with Dad.
And that's my story on the cowgirls from Oklahoma.
Until next time,
Shakespeare
My Favorite Web sites
HOME PAGE
STORIES
Email: tbgraef@fivearea.com
