So...today was the day for Spring cattle work. This year most of the calves that came to the pasture were not castrated or tagged, so today was the day to remedy that. There were only about a dozen calves to do, but...if you know anything about the way things get done around this farm, it wasn't just that simple.
First off, as usual for us, we didn't get up as early as we had planned...8am came and went without a sound from Lorelei's room, and since we both seem to be in a perpetually exhausted state lately, we just kept dozing, in spite of the alarm going off more than once....Oops...
Then there was the mad rush to get things done here and head over to the in-laws where the bulk of the action would take place. Trevor saddled the horses and put my cow out for grass, I fed the pigs and Lorelei (who of course decided she didn't "WAn" to eat breakfast this morning) and gathered up the various and sundry things that either needed to be taken back to my in-laws or might be needed for the day...you know, extra clothes for the potty training kid, the mixer I borrowed from my MIL, the water bottle that needed to be filled.... By the time I made three trips out to the truck with stuff, Trevor was ready to head over, so he trotted out the driveway on Apache, with Riata alongside and Lorelei and I came along in the "Tuck"(as in "Daddy's Tuck, Daddy's Tuck!!). Once we got there and I hauled in all the stuff, I got Lorelei settled in with Grandma and headed for the barn.
Now, it wouldn't be possible to just head down there and get started...you see, nothing happens just that easy around here! First we had remodel a couple pig pens, move some pigs, bed the pig pens, catch 18 piglets, castrate a dozen and then remove the pig fencing from some areas of the barn so we could move cattle through the handling system.... I was just catching the second litter of pigs when E, K, J, H and V showed up. The cows actually belong to E & K, so they came along to help out with the process. The kids were alternately enthralled and alarmed while they watched me "do an operation" on the male baby piglets. The whole process of moving animals around and changed around fences always takes longer than the actual handling of the animals...such was definitely the case today! After sending the baby pigs back to their mommy for comfort, Trevor and I headed down the hill on the horses to bring the cattle up.
My mare, Riata, who was just started last year as a 4 year old, got to experience cows for the first time. This was only my third ride on her this year...I'm ashamed to admit that...but its true! My friend M, who started her last year, took her for a couple weeks this spring to give her a bit of a refresher...I should have ridden her about 6-8 times since she came back, but I've only been out on her twice....where does all my time go? Anyways, she had a lot of energy today...it was a nice day and she really did not want to be away from the other horse...she wanted to be right beside him and going fast.... Well, I had other plans, and she did lots of work today instead of just having a simple ride, because all she could think about was full speed ahead....I was almost dizzy by the end of the ride after all the pivots and circles we did to keep her brain working and her feet slowed down! We rode quickly down the hill and into the pasture where Trevor started to call the cows, they were all bedded down in the bush on top of the small hill in the "Little Field", but came out quite readily when Trevor started calling....he led them up the hill while I followed behind. Riata wasn't impressed at all, but we got through it. Eventually we had all the cows in the barnyard and we tied the horses up in the shade...their job was done for the day!
At this point I discovered I needed to get some scalpel blades from our place to do the job with, we had some blades but no handle to fit them...so I made a quick trip home while the guys moved panels and hogs and feeders, etc. To get the working system ready. When I got back, we sorted the calves from the cows and got the real job underway.
First of all we let E be the steer wrestler and throw the calves down and sit on them...that lasted for a whole 2 calves... We decided that the chute might be easier, so we proceeded to load the calves one at a time into the chute...
Tagging can be kinda hard on the hands...I think that's why I'm making such a face....or who knows....maybe the boys were saying crazy things!
Some were so small that their heads didn't stay caught in the headgate, so Trevor had a rope on those ones.
E was in behind them in the chute with a good grip on their tail to hold them still...
While I took care of the more delicate side of the operation....
No more bulls around!
We enjoyed lunch part way through the process with the whole crew plus my brother-in-law and his family.
We are very thankful for Grandma...who watched Lorelei all day and did the cooking to keep us going!
I think I managed to get through the day with only one bruise and a couple small nicks from the scalpel...not bad!
I love the motion in that pictures...Lolo running to Daddy and him stooped to pick her up...so cute! Then there's E holding V, J, Grandpa, H and K...all watching the calves run out to their mommies.
After the calves were done and we turned everybody back out to pasture, I took each of the kids for a bareback ride on Apache.
Chirpee....Apache thought the flies were pretty bad...
H looks positively delighted!
J was pretty excited too...but the sun was pretty bright!
Lorelei thought it was great to share her pony with her friends!
After this was done, we took advantage of the extra hands and went back to our place to castrate our pig and bull calf. After an unsuccessful attempt to get the bulls in, we said good-bye to the E family and headed back to the in-laws to finish off the day. We moved more animals around, and then brought in my FIL's few cows and sorted, tagged and castrate those calves (only 2 bull calves in this group). Then we hauled them to the smaller pasture on our place. After this, we had supper with my in-laws, loaded up Riata and Lorelei and came home. Apache is staying at Grandpa's for the summer (he IS grandpa's horse after all!). It was 8:30 before we got home, and 9pm before Lorelei was in bed...again! It seems very hard to get her in bed on time when the evenings are light so late and the days are so full of activity! I'm just glad that she's a pretty flexible kid and she still has good naps to help make up for the shorter nights lately! I feel pretty worn out, and have been sitting in bed for over an hour already! Imagine that, I'm in bed before 11pm....not asleep yet of course!
Here are some more pictures from the day - Thanks K for taking pictures!
Grandpa and the kids.
DeereAndy and Dimple...."there's just so much to see daddy!"
My lil girl...getting so big!
The curious spectators J & H.
Trevor: "Here ya go Heather, now you'll have some great pictures for Facebook"
V patiently watched from her stroller too!
