Trailing Cows ~ Day 2

The weather forecast was correct this time...cold, snowy, and windy.

We pulled into the Jenkins place where the cows were left overnight expecting to see 8-10 newborn calves, but there were only two! As we separated the pairs from the herd, the snow was pelting our faces...I thought to myself that there are buckaroos out here doing this on a daily basis...this was not the glamorous part of being a buckaroo!

But, we got the lil' calves loaded into the trailer and Rancher Dan's wife (G) drove them to the ranch and put them in the barn under a heat lamp to wait for their mother's arrival. The momma cows were not too happy with us, but they joined up with the rest of the herd and headed on down the road.

A rural traffic jam

The early mornin' snow was just a shower thank goodness...the sun came and went all day with a few snow showers here and there, but the wind picked up it's pace as the day progressed.

Yes, those are red ears in that photo...Rohan is going to get his fair share of riding this year. He's been left to sit in the pasture and get fat far too long! He'll never be the cow horse Colt is, but gathering, trailing and a bit of sorting will be really good for him. It's always good to have a back up horse ready to go when needed.

Rohan is my cow pony for the day!

Today's trip is about 13 miles, and like the day before, the cows were making good time with a nice, steady pace headin' for home.

Overlooking the beginning of the Diamond Valley toward the west.

About 5 miles from the ranch, we saw one cow laying down along the side of the road...we figured she might have her calf right there. But when we reached her on horseback, she got up and headed into the middle of the herd. Shortly after that, we turned onto the road going east and the wind was to our backs with tumbleweeds rolling along with us...I felt like a tumbleweed! The wind was pretty gusty!

We took the herd through a neighboring rancher's field and then onto the 2 mile driveway...everything was going smoothly!

Almost to the ranch and the sun is shinning brightly! But the wind was still rippin'.

Rancher Dan was in the front opening gates, and My Man and I were bringing up the rear closing gates behind us as we went. By the time we got to the ranch and into the field with the end of the herd, the cow that had laid down along side the road was already giving birth...such a good ol' girl!

Just in time...this cow laid down immediately and had her calf. Yes, those are snow flakes dotting the photo.

We had to sort out the two mother cows from this morning and reunite them with their calves; they mothered up nicely. And there was another calf in the barn that had been gathered up the day before; that calf was too cold to be left behind with its mother, so G took him to the ranch (riding on the floor board of the pickup) to get warmed up and bottle fed. They locked that cow into the barn with the calf...after two days apart, the momma cow may reject the calf. But, last I heard, they were starting to mother up.

Rastus is getting a bit of cool refreshment from McCoy Creek.

We moved some heifers around for Rancher Dan, and then tied the horses up on the trailer. G had an awesome lunch for us...the end of a great day! For D & G it'll be a 24/7 job until all the cows and heifers are done calving...hard work, but well worth the doin'.

Thanks for comin' along on the drive!