Patient Work!
Posted by Jill Bosich on
Moving cows takes a tremendous amount of patience, some days more than others.
Pio was antsy. We were waiting a good bit back on this particular morning and boy was he itching to hustle up to the herd, push them through the gate and past the cattle guard. He knew he was close to home and he tried to pack his hustle, just like chefs do right before we are heading into service. Little did he know, we had a bigger job at hand. We were waiting in reserve as calf after calf tried to "break back" as many of them lost their moms when traveling in the "crowd". When calves break back, it can be totally western. They run, they dodge, they spin and dart. Chasing them back into the herd is a ton of fun but sometimes they outsmart us, run like hell and it takes some skillful riding to get them turned back in the right direction.
That morning we chased after several to get them back to the group. I snapped this shot as the energy finally got quiet enough for me to pull out the camera and freeze the moment. His ears tell the story. They were forward and ready in the event another calf broke away. Finally, the herd settled and they all began to pass quietly through the gate.
The grass on the other side of the red dirt road was becoming super lush and green as you see in the image. We got back to camp just before the skies opened up and poured for the rest of the afternoon. Good times and never a bad day. I love this range. XO