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AdvertisementHe is riding well nowDo you know how much pride comes along with calling yourself a rancher? I mean seriously--is there any other reason to be involved in animal agriculture? Last week I had a break from the heavy traveling of a normal week with one goal--to get the cows and calves worked, split up and put out to the breeding pastures. Perfect grass and breeding plans--whether it is with a bull or into the pasture where we will be artificially inseminating a select group of cows. Finally, a great plan has been put forth. Well, about a week ago, as I was simply riding my saddle horse one evening checking cows and calves and mentally working up a plan for all of the tasks that needed to be completed, I found myself sharing the saddle with an unwelcome additional rider. Let's just say that there was not room for me and a stud horse in the saddle. The good news is that we should have a new foal out of Lady Blue in about 11 months. Yes, the young stud has been running out in the pasture with mares all winter and suddenly it seemed like a good idea to bring him back to the barn. And, no, I was not cowboy enough to ride the mare back but she led just fine and strangely enough the stud followed us every step of the way. I decided this was a good deal because I needed to get back on ToHinto and start using him to work cattle, anyway. With the big week ahead, it was almost like I planned to get him up here; but, there is one little issue, ToHinto is only 4 years old, what any horseman would consider "green broke," and has been running with his mane and tail in the wind for six months, with "his" females. Yes, I will state what would be rather obvious to anybody looking back upon this experience. A green broke stud that has not been ridden for six months should receive more ground work than you might initially think before heading back out to the same pasture where the rest of his girls are running. No matter how bad you think it was, I didn't hit the ground. But we did head back to the house way before I had planned to and that was the start of a three-day conditioning programming to remind this young stud that he works for me instead of having this "Hey, let's take this guy for a pleasure ride" attitude! I will say there is absolutely no better way to bring a young horse back to where they were mentally than to spend a half-day bringing in 300 cows from a section of grass. So, on Memorial Day, after our morning spent honoring the fallen heroes of our nation, Libbi and I saddled up and headed to the pasture. We started this project too late in the day and it was really strange how the cows were scattered in all four corners of the pasture. After about three hours of chasing cows, we finally got them to the gate, near the barn, that wasn't open. As I travel this country encouraging others to be better communicators, it has been said once or twice that my communication skills at the ranch could be better. The bottom line is that after a total of four hours riding and bringing cows to the house, the decision was made that it would be best to open the gate and let them back where they started. The good news is that this was a great conditioning day for my green broke horse. Two days later the weather was perfect, our day was cleared and we saddled up again. We headed out to the pasture and cut our time spent bringing cows to the barn in half. All the calves and cows go through the working chute and are divided up three ways for different pastures. When we finish, it is way past dark and the 40 pairs that need to be hauled 18 miles to different pasture will have to wait until morning. Morning comes and the cows have had a difference of opinions of being hauled, and managed to find (or make) yet another hole in my fence so all the cows, although now properly vaccinated, are back where they started yesterday morning. In addition to that, three of the herd bulls have now figured out where the cows are and they too are feeling their spring urges. Oh, I love ranching because you never really ever finish any project; you simply try to figure what is the best "next" day to work on it. Do you know how many are bored with their career choice? Not farmers and ranchers. Hey, we are just happy to have great stories to share the next time we sit around the campfire. The best news is that ToHinto sure seems to be riding great these days! Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
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