Herding Cattle

 This has been the summer of new adventures! Crashing trees, fighting fires, seeing bighorn sheep . . . and herding cattle.  

We were at the Ranch on September 2, and as we were leaving, we saw 7 Charolais cattle grazing in the meadow near our road. We immediately knew to whom they belonged, and when we arrived home, I called the house to let them know.  Then Don and Kenneth went into Santa Fe, and Caleb and I stayed at the cabin.

About an hour later, the phone rang, and Annelle was on the phone.  "There are 7 Charolais cattle in the Percy's yard," she said.  She, too, had tried the owner and left a message on his voice mail.  Then she decided to try to herd them down the road to put them in someone's pasture.

I called Huie, and he suggested that I call Gail Doran to see if she could help.  She had herded cattle before and knew what to do . . . and she seemed pleased to help.  Caleb and I got in my red iron horse, and we went down the road, just as the cattle had arrived in the meadow across the stream from us.  I opened the gate at the cattle guard, thinking they would go through it.  But no, they climbed the hill and headed to the Tererro campground.

I went to Gail's to tell her where they were, and our plan was to drive them across the river and into one of Huie's pastures.  It was a good plan, until the cows decided they did not want to cross the river and instead went back toward the Holy Ghost. Gail herded them down the road while I blocked traffic, and once on highway 63, I led the way, blinkers going the whole time.  We had a few missteps - they defected into two different pastures, climbed the hill once, and visited another campground - and Gail's horse's hoof became entrapped in some sheep fencing.  Gail got another horse for Annelle, and between the three of us, we managed to get the cattle into the Forest Service pasture!

Caleb had a good time watching all of the chaos, and Gail's dog, Jack, joined us in the car for awhile. Caleb even got on a horse, but he became scared pretty quickly and wanted off.  But I have to say, three women did a pretty good job and getting the cattle where they needed to be . . . and then we found out that they had overwintered in the high country because they could not be found last October. So their owner was even happier!

In the meadow across from the cabin

Gail at work