Mistake Lake to Frazier Lake

~I'm rough and tough and I don't wear bloomers.~

~Nellie Braken 1887~

It actually felt like summer yesterday...upper 80's and sunny!!! A few thunder clouds came through late in the day, but nothin' too serious.

Colt and I spent the day gatherin' 'n movin' pairs. It had its ups and downs, but all in all, it was a pretty good day.

Gretchen and I started at the north end of the field, and the gate we needed the cows to go to was south west. But, this time the cows had their direction all screwed up and insisted they were supposed to go south east...and there was nothin' stoppin' 'um!

Bossman Dan trailer'd his horse to the south east corner and was workin' on gettin' his bunch movin' west when my bunch came over the top of the ridge and down to Mistake Lake (which of course caused his bunch to quit on him)...once we got them all gathered there, we were able to get them movin' off west.

Mistake Lake

Once we got the herd movin', I took the herd and Bossman Dan headed back up to the ridge to see what Gretchen had goin'.

Movin' the herd west along the fence line.

I think there was somethin' 'bout the Summer Solstice (or I suppose you can pick any ol' excuse), but the bulls were quite feisty! This type of Bull Play went on all day. It wasn't just this pair...all the bulls were full o' bull!

Colt hates it when the bulls get to fightin' like this.
They can move so fast, and they don't care who or what they run over.
Colt and I keep a wide berth.

As we approached this narrow spot along the fence line, those two bulls got into it again and just about took out the fence. I saw the Hereford bull up on his back legs and fell backward; I was afraid he was going to impale himself on the t-post. They loosened up the fence pretty good and one calf somehow ended up on the other side of the fence. Big Hereford seemed a lil' sore after that bout. But, everything else was OK.

Gettin' through the tight spot.

We gathered up everything into this SW corner. But, the cows on the other side of the fence belong to another rancher. So, they had to be driven out of the way while we crossed through their field to our herd's new field.

Normally, the water in Frazier Lake isn't this high, and we don't have to cut through the other rancher's field. But this year from the heavy snow pack and wet spring, the gate that is normally used and part of the fence is all under water.

Holdin' the herd. See the water in the background? That's Frazier Lake; our destination.

Once we got everyone to the new field, it's time to get them to mother up...Ha...all those mother cows had on their minds was eatin'! Can you blame them with belly high grass?!?

We probably spent an hour and a half trying to keep them all together. The cows just wanted to drift off up the hill...and the calves were trying to go back the way we came through the fence...we finally just let them be...and Bossman Dan will go back today to sort out any problems.

These were definitely some happy cows with all this feed!

But, hey...it was a good day. Even though Bossman Dan gets frustrated and say it's not fun and games with stupid cows some days, I think it's GREAT fun ;~) Guess I'm still a newbie...

Frazier Lake...with its fence line under water.

And after a day in the saddle...burgers 'n fries at Hotel Diamond...what a great way to end the day!

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Last Sunday, My Man and I headed out with Colt at 4 AM for the Lake County Spring Cow Horse Classic. It was a really fun day...sunny skies, great people and fantastic horses! I entered Colt in the hackamore class. They offer that class for horses up to six years of age...so this will be Colt's last year.

As usual, we were so close to winnin' the buckle...came in second, one point behind the winner. But, the winner, Robin Shine, was well deserving of that buckle!!!

Circlin' up the cow.

My Man took a video so the above shot is a still from the video. I have so much to learn about doin' the fence work with the cow, but every time we go out and do it, we both learn a lil' bit more...that's all we can do! I was very proud of Colt...we just keep on keepin' on...