# The Cowboy Chronicals



## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

LOL! Oh man, I feel for you! Being a cowman yourself, let me ask you a question. If you were gathering cattle in a pasture where is the first place cattle go to and stop? A corner, right? We worked on a ranch where no gates were in the corners!!! They were all either 50 yards from the corner or the middle of the fence line! So you can only imagine the insanity this caused a logical thinking cowperson. Especially when running a huge amount of yearlings. Yearlings, as you well know, you have to show a hole rather than cows who hunt a hole.

Well at least you got to rope and I will be looking forward to future adventures! Best of Luck!


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

Subbing to hear more adventures! lol 

Do you have your own barn/ranch? or just work for other ranchers?


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## Skipsfirstspike (Mar 22, 2010)

Why not just do this?


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Skipsfirstspike said:


> Why not just do this?
> RC Round Up !Very Funny! - YouTube



Holy crap!!!! This so funny! This is why I love yearlings..they are so much fun and curious- you never know where and what you might find them doing.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Sounds like a rather interesting job Kevin! Look forward to hearing about your adventures.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

Today I got a lot done. I saddled my Appy horse this morning and checked the calves. He really wanted to buck when I took my rope down but after we loped a couple of miles he settled down. Hopefully I'll be able to catch something on him soon. After riding through the calves and putting a couple back in I headed back to the corrals to shoe my other horse. I was about half done with that when the boss came by and asked if I could catch some heifers and load them in the trailer. By catch he meant rope so I was game. I changed saddles and rode out to the heifer and cow pasture. The boss told me that I could catch any hiefer with a purple ear tag so I spurred up and rode to the first one I saw. I caught it without much trouble and with very little trouble got her loaded in the trailer. I spotted another purple tag and chased it down and roped it with quite a nice flair. The boss then pulled up with the truck and trailer to inform me that that was the ONE steer in the whole bunch! Ooops, I felt like an idiot for not noticing but we needed to get the steer out anyway so we loaded him in the trailer and took him to the steer pasture. The next four went quite well and at the end I had a tired arm and a wore out horse but I was smiling from ear to ear. 

I couldn't have been better mounted if I had tried. My good gray horse really tracks a cow well and every time the cow changed directions my horse changed leads and stayed right with her. Once she was roped he pulled like a horse twice his size. 

Now I really need a new rope!

Stay tuned for further adventures...


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## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

*Polygamy is illegal, isn't it?*

Even in Utah, even if you're Mormon, isn't it? Unless this is too off-topic for anyone to answer.:wink:


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

will you please adoped me and teach me the ways of the cowboy? I've been dieing to learn to rope and work cattle. It's my dream to work for a rance some day, but I wasnt even sure they still exist!


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

Mormons are NOT polygamists in Utah or anywhere else. As far as the legality of polygamy I don't know how they keep from getting prosecuted. The guy I work for only has one wife as do all the other men I've met but thier fathers have multiple wives. They own several coal mines and 5 ranches among other businesses so they probably own a few congressmen too. They also only marry women that are legal adults unrelated to them so there is no political capital in prosecuting them.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

myhorsesonador said:


> will you please adoped me and teach me the ways of the cowboy? I've been dieing to learn to rope and work cattle. It's my dream to work for a rance some day, but I wasnt even sure they still exist!


The biggest cattle ranch in the country is in central Florida!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

kevinshorses said:


> Today I got a lot done. I saddled my Appy horse this morning and checked the calves. He really wanted to buck when I took my rope down but after we loped a couple of miles he settled down. Hopefully I'll be able to catch something on him soon. After riding through the calves and putting a couple back in I headed back to the corrals to shoe my other horse. I was about half done with that when the boss came by and asked if I could catch some heifers and load them in the trailer. By catch he meant rope so I was game. I changed saddles and rode out to the heifer and cow pasture. The boss told me that I could catch any hiefer with a purple ear tag so I spurred up and rode to the first one I saw. I caught it without much trouble and with very little trouble got her loaded in the trailer. I spotted another purple tag and chased it down and roped it with quite a nice flair. The boss then pulled up with the truck and trailer to inform me that that was the ONE steer in the whole bunch! Ooops, I felt like an idiot for not noticing but we needed to get the steer out anyway so we loaded him in the trailer and took him to the steer pasture. The next four went quite well and at the end I had a tired arm and a wore out horse but I was smiling from ear to ear.
> 
> I couldn't have been better mounted if I had tried. My good gray horse really tracks a cow well and every time the cow changed directions my horse changed leads and stayed right with her. Once she was roped he pulled like a horse twice his size.
> 
> ...



Oh man I am jealous!!! Favorite thing in the whole wide world is roping cattle and loading them in the trailer outside!! GOOD DAY, like Christmas..but different..LOL!


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

Subbing*


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

kevinshorses said:


> Mormons are NOT polygamists in Utah or anywhere else. As far as the legality of polygamy I don't know how they keep from getting prosecuted. The guy I work for only has one wife as do all the other men I've met but thier fathers have multiple wives. They own several coal mines and 5 ranches among other businesses so they probably own a few congressmen too. They also only marry women that are legal adults unrelated to them so there is no political capital in prosecuting them.


I grew up in a Mormon community, but my family nor am I Mormon, none of the families I knew were polygamists either. They may of had 12+ children though.

We are spending the winter in Texas and I know of a family who is polygamist. They do exist, and and live in the USA. This family however spends most of their time in Mexico working a ranch with no electricity, plumbing or phone....however it is legal for them to live there.

Do I agree, no...but to each their own.... I think one woman is hard to keep happy let alone several!:lol: LOL


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

COWCHICK77 said:


> Oh man I am jealous!!! Favorite thing in the whole wide world is roping cattle and loading them in the trailer outside!! GOOD DAY, like Christmas..but different..LOL!


I started last Thursday and I've roped something almost every day. I've never had more fun at a job ever.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

kevinshorses said:


> I started last Thursday and I've roped something almost every day. I've never had more fun at a job ever.


Good times! Nothing better than a strictly riding, roping job! Some people dream about just doing that. But anymore, as you know, a little mechanic-ing and haying is in order for keeping on full time.


So I say take full advantage! And I'm jealous right now:lol: (Plus loading in a trailer...super jealous!)

I ready to come home


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## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

Kevin, thanks for answering my question. 

Sounds like you're having a fantastic time at this job; thanks for making us all green with envy. Seems that you did the same to us last year, as I recall.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I don't know if it will always be a strictly riding job or if I'll have to build fence or something equally humilliating. I WILL quit if they ever hand me a shovel and a irrigation tarp!

Northern- I have been lucky the last couple of years but the other jobs were temporary and this one is permanent.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. So many people honestly don't realize how quickly a horse will get broke and get _nice_ when they have to do work like that every day, all day long.

I pity you for the wild *** cattle though, I've seen enough of those "farmerized" critters to last me a lifetime.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

By Feburary they will all be gone except for the very best cows and heifers. They are getting replaced with some hopefully gentler cows.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Woot!! At least with the replacement cattle, they'll be handled by horses from the first day they arrive .

I wish I was closer and could volunteer to come daywork with you.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

kevinshorses said:


> By Feburary they will all be gone except for the very best cows and heifers. They are getting replaced with some hopefully gentler cows.


I think that is the problem with using a four-wheeler or dirtbike for gathering cattle and horses. If you don't do it right they get stupid...


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

smrobs said:


> Woot!! At least with the replacement cattle, they'll be handled by horses from the first day they arrive .
> 
> I wish I was closer and could volunteer to come daywork with you.


We could put together quite a Horse Forum crew!


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

So in the last couple of weeks we gathered all the cattle and brought them to the barn for sorting and vaccinating. After the dust cleared we had a bunch of cull cows about 200 young cows and replacement hiefers and 450 head of calves that wieghed between 250 and 600 lbs. About half the calves had a cough so I convinced my boss that we should vaccinate them. This should have been done at branding and again at weaning but the former manager wanted to keep the calves "organic". However, he forgot to market them as organic so they just ended up crappy. After working 450 calves I was glad to get back to some real cowboying. Vaccinating calves that are already a little sick is a tricky proposition. If you don't stay on top of the doctoring then you can actually end up with sicker calves. Over the last two weeks I've doctored about 70 head of calves. Most days I doctor 5 or 6 head mostly by myself. 

This has been pretty hard on my horses. My good solid gray horse stepped on a nail and put a hole through his heel. He's still pretty sore on it but seems to be getting better. My roan horse is cinch sore for some reason. I've only ridden him a half dozen times but it bothers him when I mount so bad he acts like he'd like to lay down. At first I thought his withers or back were sore but he didn't flinch when I poked and prodded them but when I found the cinch sores he really didn't like it. 

The only horse that is still working sound and healthy is my good Appy horse. He wants to hump up and buck some mornings but he's always ready when there's work to do. I've roped about half the calves I've doctored on him and he's really getting good about it. 

My boss bought me a new rope on monday. It was a very nice gesture and earned him a lot of loyalty from me. The downside is that the rope is a 3/8 th scant as apposed to the 5/16 ropes that I have been using for the last several years. It's less than an eight of an inch difference but the feel is a lot different. It also has a tied honda instead of a metal one like I've been used to. The first day I used it I missed so many times my arm got sore from swinging the rope so much. After using it for a week Ive finally got used to it enough that I am catching pretty good again. 

The farm managers 15 year old kid bought a two year old filly with about 3 weeks worth of training on her. The kid doesn't know much but he's very willing to learn and he's been riding with me the last couple of days. The filly really fills in for him when he needs it and he's doing a good job of staying out of her way when he needs to. As most of you know I'm not a fan of green on green but this pair seems to be working out. He's been helping me doctor calves and if he stays interested it's going to help my horses. I rope the calves and he rassles them to the ground (sometimes). A lot of the time I can get the calves to trip up on my rope and if someone can hold them down before they get up then I don't have to choke them as much and my horses don't have to take as much jerking. 

All in all it's been a great couple of weeks. Even when it's freezing cold and the wind is blowing 30 mph it's still great.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

That sounds awesome!! Do you keep a can of Bickmore Gall Salve in your tack room? I swear by the stuff for cinch sores.

That's good to hear that the kid is doing well with is filly. I believe that the green + green thing _can_ succeed...when there is someone knowledgeable there for advice, help, and suggestions.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I haven't sored a horse on the girth for over a year so I didn't have anything for it. I'll have to find some of your magic stuff.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

That sucks that the calves weren't vaccinated...weaning is hard enough on them when they have been vaccinated! I believe in weaning on diesel smoke, it's easier! :wink: LOL

That's great about the kid and and the filly, not very often that works out...usually someone gets hurt or discouraged!


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

There's still time for injury or discouragement but so far so good.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

LOL, well hopefully not!


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I had a pretty good wreck today. Actually it was the best kind of wreck because nobody got hurt and nothing got broke. I roped a calf to doctor it and it ran under a shed and around a cement column that holds up the roof. The kid that was helping me got off his horse and chased the calf around the column one more time so that it was snubbed up pretty good. Since I didn't want to risk losing the calf I tied my rope off and stepped off my horse to fill the syringe and give the calf a shot. Well, the calf started to struggle and being as this is not the first calf my horse has been tied to he leaned right back on that rope. Saddly, I hadn't checked my cinch in a while and my saddle started sliding forward. The more it slid forward the harder that horse went backward. I hollered at the kid to ...let go of the calf and get clear so he wouldn't get caught between the column and the rope or the calf. The calf saw his chance and unwound from the pole and ran a circle around my horse. Things happened pretty fast after that and it's not real clear in my mind why things happened just how they did but my horse ended up on his back with the calf snubbed a little too close for comfort to him. I finally got my knife dug out from under all my clothes and chaps and cut the calf loose. The horse stood up like nothing had happened and after resaddling him and tying my honda back on we roped the calf and doctored him like we did this stuff for a living.


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## PumpkinzMyBaby22 (Jul 5, 2009)

Glad it worked out as well as it did


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Lol! And that is why you always pack a knife! Good times....glad no one was hurt!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

That;s what I told my helper right after I cut the rope.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

Nothing like seeing something like that first-hand to make sure he remembers your advice for ever more too.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, been there, done that type of thing a time or two :wink:. So glad that nobody and no critters were hurt.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

So I had an interesting experience today. I was riding through a pen of calves looking for aq sick one and I had just spotted one that needed some nylon supplement when out of the corner of my eye a calf fell over stiff legged and started posturing and kicking its legs. It freaked my horse right out. I couldn't even ride up to it. I finally got off and went to get a closer look. It would stretch its legs out and then curl them back in. I gave it a good dose of LA 200 because I didn't have anything else. I figured that the calf would be dead pretty soon. About 3 hours later I came back around and he was up a walking around. He didn't look real good but he didn't look dead either. Then as I watched he stiffened up and tipped over again with the same thing as before. I couldn't do more than I had already done so I left again. Later as I was on my way home the kid thats been helping me called me on the phone and said the calf was up and moving around again. I'm almost hoping the calf dies so that we can get a necropsy and find out what's wrong with it.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Hmm, interesting. We once had a dog start doing that after he was kicked in the head....

:think:


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## Toymanator (Jul 31, 2009)

Kevin it's always good to hear your stories, your living the life! Did you get affected with any of the windstorm last week? I personally cut up 22 trees in my neighborhood alone and assisted with 6 more. The fallen trees with all of the other debris made for quite a mess. We were without power for 4 days and didn't get internet back until yesterday.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I wonder if that calf has some sort of nutrional imbalance? I have heard of cattle with a high sulfate intake having similar symptoms. But I havent seen it myself. I am very curious.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

The windstorm missed us. 

Apparently the calf is doing better today. I didn't see it because I had to help the nieghbor get some cattle gathered up after they had ran out of water and gotten out.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

Today was a hell of a day. It started out pretty good. I brought my dog and dixie and I moved a little bunch of cows up to the barn then my helper and I rode through the calves pretty much like we do every day. Then I got a call that my boss wanted to move the bred cows and hiefers across the road to another pasture. We were planning to do it tommorow when a couple of guys that knew what end of a cow the feed goes in could come and help but the feed truck was broke down and the feed guys needed something to do. So guess who gets to play babysitter/cowboy. That's right, this guy! I explained to my helper and one of the feed guys that was riding what could possibly be called a horse what we were doing and how we were going to go about it. The feed guy will from now on be known as Dumb Joey.

My dog and I got all the cows moving pretty much by ourselves because the guys weren't riding up on the cows and actually pushing them. I explained to them that they needed to point thier horses toward the cows in order to make them move ( I thought that was self-evident). So the cattle started to move pretty well down the pasture pretty much in the direction I wanted them to go. Then I see Dumb Joey loping around the front of the cattle and turning them back toward me. I had to yell and yell at him before he could hear me and quit pushing the cattle in the wrong direction. I managed to keep my cool and explain to him where we were going ... again. So my dog and I got the cattle moving again and pointed in the right direction. 

The cattle started drifting in the wrong direstion so I rode out to turn them. Dumb Joey and the helper couldn't remember to keep their horses moving toward the cows so when I got toward the front the cows stopped and turned around. So I rode back to the back and explained to them that they had to push the cows so that I could steer them. I then rode to the front to turn the cows again and when I looked back the helper was doing his best to push the cow but dumb Joey was 20 yards from the cows riding his "horse" in circles. Now I'm pretty ****ed. I'm riding the guts out of my horse trying to get the cattle turned and moving and he's dinking off clear away from the cattle. 

This went on for a while and then I had to quit and ride off because I'm only willing to beat my own head against a wall I won't subject a good horse and dog to a head beating as well. So I start to ride off and Dumb Joey comes trotting his "horse" up next to me. Before he could speak I told him it would be in his best interest to ride somewhere else for a while. Of course he had to live up to his name and start in on the excuses and blame. First, he said they were just trying to keep the cattle calm. Then he said they were making progress but it was just slow (the cattle were moving in the opposite direction). Then he told me the helper didn't know how to move cattle. I told him that made two of them. Then he had the audacity to tell me my dog wasn't helping much either. My dog at least was doing what I told her! I couldn't even look at him at that point or I would have had to rope him off his "horse" and choke him for a while. So I did us both a favor and trotted off down the road on my tired horse. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to wake up in the morning. 

After I got back to the barn I unsaddled my horse and went to lunch. When I got back I tracked Dumb Joey down and apologized to him for yelling like I did. I didn't tell him I didn't mean what I said (because I meant every word and more)but I shouldn't have said it. I then called up the helper and made sure he knew that I wasn't mad at him. He's a little socially stunted and timid so I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Kudos for reading this whole thing.


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## InStyle (Nov 14, 2011)

Subbing, love reading your stories Kevin, sounds similar to mine up here. Or used too, we now are down to 3cows and a bull, we had 60head before. Downsizing as my husband wants to get more land for grain farming. Oh well, I can still work the cows on the horses 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

InStyle said:


> my husband wants to get more land for grain farming.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


You're a good woman for staying with a man that backwards!!


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## InStyle (Nov 14, 2011)

****!!!!!!!!!! I will tell him that 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Boy, sometimes all the "help" in the world is more trouble than it's worth LOL.

Hopefully tomorrow goes better.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

smrobs said:


> Boy, sometimes all the "help" in the world is more trouble than it's worth LOL.
> 
> Hopefully tomorrow goes better.


Boy isn't that the truth!!!

Good luck!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

At least your man enough to apologize and be a good guy


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Dear Kevin
I have seen pics of your dog, your children, and of you; however, none of your horses. I have heard you tell of 3, could you put a pic up of them please. Love your chronicals. 
Thanks and Merry Christmas.
Ann


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

anndankev said:


> Dear Kevin
> I have seen pics of your dog, your children, and of you; however, none of your horses. I have heard you tell of 3, could you put a pic up of them please. Love your chronicals.
> Thanks and Merry Christmas.
> Ann


I'll see what I can do.


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Love the chronicles


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