Magic Man

One of the perks of the animal industry is meeting people who share the same interests. It's a time of sharing of ideas and learning (almost always for me). There was a time when I did not appreciate the opportunities of learning from others....I was afraid they would think I didn't know something. Guess what? They already knew.

I have met Troy Brandenburg on two separate occasions now. He specializes in equine sports therapy and has worked with some of the foremost barrel racing horses going today. He has helped some of the greatest horses in the world. But that's his first specialty.... he is VERY talented and very good at what he does with a horse. He can take a horse that is obviously nervous and/or hurting and with a few minutes (sometimes quite a few) of work, he can relax that horse and have him almost asleep. Troy is much more than a sports therapist for horses, however.....

I think Troy's biggest gift is his inner self. No, scared and hurting horses don't instantly just start muzzling him for treats, and he doesn't have some "white light aura" surrounding him, but he does gain their trust by making them feel better. It is truly amazing to see the changes in a horse that Troy has worked with. But it is so much more than just a job to Troy. He genuinely wants to help every horse he meets. It isn't an ego thing and it isn't about the money......if he doesn't do anything to your horse (as he puts it),he doesn't charge you. But what I gained from Troy is more valuable than I can really put into words. And worth every penny I have given him....and then some.

You see, besides being able to read most horses, Troy is also good at reading the horses' owners. He is very willing to work with the owners and show each of us the things we can do on a daily basis to help our equine partners. He "talks horse" with me and other owners like me. He teaches about the things that go on in the horse's body, about digestion and circulation. Troy talks to us about the importance of stretching the horse's legs and very importantly (for me) about gaining the trust of our horses. I have been so caught up in the rigors of running a ranch that I had forgotten how important that simple thing is to a horse......trust.

What I took away from my meetings with Troy Brandenburg were some valuable "hands on" type things that I can do to help my horses perform better, to be more relaxed and to feel better in general. I gained some new ideas to ponder and some new techniques. But I think the most important things I took away were some things that I was "reminded of" that I had known all along.

Morning Symphony

While checking the heifers this morning at sun up, I was struck by the Symphony of Nature in the Good Lord's Surround Sound that I was blessed to hear. While I'm sure I've heard it many times before, I was especially pleased to hear it today. It went something like this....

As I walked to the lot from the south I could hear the constant stomping of the prairie chickens to the north. Their background for the symphony is what I would call a low pitched sound like "ah-ooooh, ah-ooooh" with an occasional high pitched "he-HEE, he-HEEE, he-HEE" thrown in. An occasional chirp or twitter from little tree birds is thrown in at various times from all directions. From the west comes in a gobble from one of the seven tom turkeys that live behind Dad's barn, followed closely by a big round of gobbling from the other six. This seems to almost cue the coyotes to the northwest. Starting first as a distant howl from one dog and then the rest of the pack joining in almost as if trying to outdo each other with their yips and barks and a little howling. Then.....almost complete silence as if everything is counting their "rest" just like in a music score. After a few seconds, back comes in the prairie chickens "ah-OOOOH, ah-OOOOH" and so on.

Sometimes, it seems we are so busy with "life" that we fail to acknowledge all the wonderful things God has put on this earth for us to enjoy. Just like my morning symphony, which I have probably heard thousands of times, but never took the time to really listen and enjoy it until today. God wants us to be happy and while I realize it takes different things to please different kinds of people, I believe there is always something that we can take the time to enjoy and be blessed by if we choose..... A child's laugh, a dog wagging its' tail happily to greet us, the warmth of the sunshine on our face, the smell of the air after a rain..... Whatever of God's creations it might be that could bring you joy, try to take a few minutes and allow yourself to find it.

Full Circle

Once again my world has come full circle. A year ago at this time, we had selected the heifers we would keep for cows and purchased the bulls we would put with those heifers. Now those heifers are starting to calve. So now I have the opportunity to see whether or not I made the right decisions a year ago.

There are only three calves on the ground just yet. Three very fine, strong, healthy bull calves. Their mothers are making fine cows, being good mothers and spitting their babies out like they'd done it all their lives, protecting the calves from predators (like Lily, my Boston Terrier) and keeping them safe.

This is one of the things I love most about ranching. I have the opportunity to breed good cattle. It's a good feeling when I realize my homework paid off. When I see that the time I spent pouring over EPD's (estimated progeny difference) in the bull books is bringing forth the genetic traits I want in the next generation of calves, when I see the time and money spent is paying off.

To me it's not really about the money. I wish ranching didn't have to be about marketing and strategizing. I would much rather raise good cattle and have the satisfaction in knowing I'm doing that, but unfortunately, it IS about money. Everything costs an arm and a leg (and maybe a couple other body parts too) so I have to work to make our cattle competitive in the marketplace. And a big part of that comes down to genetics.

Not long after I was born, my dad stopped buying females for his cattle herd. That is called "closing the herd". The only outside genetics that comes into our herd now is from the bulls we purchase, so that is the only place for change. There's no law that says we have to stay closed, but I kind of like knowing what we already have and building on that. Dad did a lot of good things with the cows he raised and I have been trying to improve upon that for the last twenty years or so, since I came home from college and he started letting me choose the bulls. I'm proud of what we've accomplished with the last crop of calves that were born in 2010. I'm working toward more efficient calves, both steers and heifers, that will gain better on less feed, making them more desirable for a buyer and for me when I keep heifers to breed for the next generation.

So now, we have already chosen the heifers we will keep for next year. I'm proud of the crop of replacements we have and think they will be a great asset to our herd. I've purchased several new bulls that will be turned out with the cows come June. Again, I think they will do some good things for next years' calf crop. But it's a wait and see thing. I'll let you know how I did come this time next year.

Okie

I have owned a number of horses in my life. Many have been special to me for one reason or another and some.....well, let's just say that some have been "not-so-special". But I don't think there is one that has been more special than Okie.

Okie was born in north central Oklahoma 23 years ago this June. A handsome sorrel with a big blaze and two back stockings, he had not seen much of humans until he was a scared three year old. There were three stud colts, each out of sister mares and the same stallion loaded into that stock trailer that morning. First a stop at the vet clinic to be castrated and then each dropped off at a different colt starting place. So it was absolute chance (or divine intervention as I like to think of it) that Okie came to be at the same place at the same time as me.

I wanted to learn to ride cutting horses and had called a friend of an old boyfriend to ask if he'd teach me. He agreed and I would work for him while I was learning about riding the cutters. One of my jobs was to doctor the cut on the front leg of that sorrel colt with the bald face in the second pen. I had no idea.......I entered the pen and walked over to the colt. His eyes were bigger than saucers and as I got almost close enough to touch him, he whirled around kicking and snorting and headed for the safety of the corner of the pen. The furthest distance from me. After several more attempts, I was able to touch the colt and eventually clean up the cut and bandage it.

The next morning was to be Okie's first ride. These guys didn't have time to mess around with ground work. They did things the old fashioned way. Snub the colt, saddle him and get on and ride. It went pretty much that way. Except for the riding part. He bucked that guy off so quick it would make your head spin. But he did it in such a way that I couldn't help but see his athletic ability and said to my friend, "if you ever get so you can ride that horse, I'd sure like to own him." It took a several months, but own him I did.

In the process before he came to Nebraska, Okie had some rough days ahead. All four feet were tied up with a throw rope to trim his feet. To this day, he has scars on all four legs. Empty Clorox jugs were tied all over him to tire him out so he wouldn't buck anymore. And he is still scared of noises on top of him that sound anything like those Clorox jugs.

But when he came to live with me his life was different. Every time I saddled Okie he was ready to go do a job. He was cowy and really liked to work cattle. He understood a lot of situations we were in and rose to the occasion. He drug calves to the branding fire and he carried me on a lot of long trips moving cattle. Okie was my calf tagging horse, my get-a-cow-in-in-the-middle-of -the-night-during-calving horse. So I decided to start him as a barrel horse.

I'm not really sure which profession Okie was best at. Ask anybody that was barrel racing from these parts in the mid to late 90's and most everyone at least knew of my sorrel horse. He was consistent. He didn't win every time, he didn't even place every time. He was not the best horse that ever stepped into the rodeo arena. But he was the best one I have ridden there.

When Okie was eight, he developed a limp on his right front foot. When it didn't go away after a few weeks off from being ridden, I took him for x-rays. He had an inoperable bone spur on his ankle. We tried several routes from different vets, but it looked like Okie was finished before he started. But I happen to see an ad in a magazine for some all natural products that got some rave reviews. After about 6 months, Okie wasn't limping. I gave him a few more months and decided that if I could even use him as a ranch horse, I would be grateful. It was calving time and we were going to pair out, generally just a lot of walking behind baby calves. But some heavy cows broke in and we had to give chase. Okie was doing his job, jumping gullies and cowing like he'd never had a two year break! I cried tears of joy that day!

Okie trusted me. That trust became evident when my friend, Virgilene and I went back east to some pro rodeos some 10 years ago now. The first rodeo was in a coliseum on a Saturday night. The crowd was loud and the music was louder. I hadn't been to a rodeo like this for quite a while and Okie....well, I'm pretty sure this was louder than weaning time at home. I could feel his heart pounding underneath me. He was scared, but heck....so was I. They called my name to run and I really didn't even know if Okie knew we were going to run barrels. But he did. And we did. He ran to first barrel like he'd been rodeoing his entire life and turned it like we were at our arena at home. The ground gave way at back side of the second barrel. He went down on his belly. Just as fast as he'd fallen, he jumped up and was running for third. The crowd loved it! Except for the fall we had a great run and finished a second out of first place....which for barrel racing is a looooong time. But I knew he had what it took to be a barrel horse. That was one of the greatest moments of my life....

I retired Okie from barrel racing about 8 years ago now. I knew he was ready to just be a ranch horse again. Matt rode him several times and Okie was good to him. The last time I rode him, we sorted cows and it was just like the old days.

This winter the pain from the bone spur came back. Then pain from where all the rope burns had been. Okie was so sore from arthritis that he didn't want to walk a few yards for a drink of water. My heart was broken. All I could do was try to help him to water and cry ..... he was still trying so hard for me. I knew it wouldn't be fair to make my old friend suffer like this after all he'd done for me. My dad said, "you know what you need to do." But first, I consulted a vet that I trust. We gave him bute for pain every day for several weeks. We also started him on some joint products. The old ankle injury still gives him trouble when it is really cold, but for the most part, he is doing much better. He gets extra grain and a nice blanket to wear. I give him the best alfalfa we have on the place. He has gotten pretty spoiled in his old age.

At the high point of Okie's career, my Dad, my (then)husband and I had gone to North Platte and had taken Okie to be shod. As we were leaving town, my (then) husband said, "Don't forget Okie." To which my dad said, "She might forget you and she might forget me, but she will not forget that horse." Dad was never more right about anything..............

Why I Do What I Do

There are days, moments actually, I guess, when I wonder just why in the hell I do what I do....

I'm pretty sure most of these moments come in winter, when we are up to our elbows in snow, ice and below zero temperatures. When I am stuck tighter than a bull's ass in snow with the feed pickup and no shovel, when it takes several days just to get to a bunch of cows because the snow is so bad or deep I can't get there, when I am gathering calves on a 4-wheeler and my fingers and toes are so cold they burn and hurt, or when I am carrying a newborn baby calf over my shoulder through snow up to my knees trying to convince his mama that I'm trying to help her baby, not steal him. Those are the moments when I use quite a few expletives to describe my job. And wonder if I used the appropriate amount of consideration when choosing my vocation.

The cold and snow require twice as much time to do the same job as when the weather is more agreeable. The cows and weaned calves still need fed. Regardless of the weather, ESPECIALLY IN THE COLD AND SNOW. A cow needs to eat to help keep her warm. If the ground is covered with a foot of snow, what's the cow gonna eat? My dad has often said that anything beats a snowbank when it comes to giving a cow something to eat in bad weather. He's right...... They aren't that picky if they've been huddled behind a hill out of the wind for 24 hours. Whatever you bring them, they'll pretty much eat it. But you have to be able to get there. And that is often no small task.

I'm not a big fan of chopping ice out of stock tanks for the cows to have a drink or stumbling around in 32 layers of clothing (and I DO mean stumbling.....my short appendages were not made for layers and marching through snow) just to stay remotely warm, but those are necessary evils. Now lest you think when I say "chopping ice out of stock tanks", I am merely talking an inch or so, please think again. There are times when temperatures remain sub zero for several days that we are chopping through (and pitching with a pitchfork) at least three or four inches of ice several times a day. The hole needs to be big enough for a lot of critters to drink at the same time. It's a pretty big job. If the wind is blowing and the wells with windmills are pumping, we generally don't have to chop and pitch because the moving water keeps a hole open big enough for the cows to drink. But it is always time consuming and physically demanding, ie....it makes you pretty dog-gone tired by the end of the day.

Now don't get me wrong......

When the sun comes up and the wind goes down the day after a snow storm, my world is a glorious blanket of white. The sky is a bright turquoise blue and the air is crisp and clean and the cold bites the end of your nose. I look out across the hills and gaze on the beauty of it all. I can see the cedar trees flocked in white and the icicles hanging from the fences and I thank the Good Lord I am there to see it. I have seen frost and ice covering the hillsides, grasses and trees glistening in the sun, that looks like fairy dust covering it all. And when the mule deer are bedded down behind a windbreak in the snow, it's a scene that looks like it should be on the cover of a magazine.

One of my favorite quotes is "There is always, always, always something to be thankful for". And I believe that's true. Yes, there are times when I am so busy that I barely have time to stop and pee during the day, let alone have time to eat. (And if you think I'm kidding, I'm not!) And yes, there are times when I am so tired I can barely make it to the house. And yes, most definitely, there are times when I cuss like a sailor because I'm stuck or something is broke down or I'm so cold I can hardly stand it. And there are those MOMENTS when I think I should have given a lot more thought to my chosen profession.........but the trade off is, well.........worth it.

For the Animal Activist type people

People in my part of the country are not tree huggers. We are not animal activists. We don't belong to PETA or HSUS or any of those type of groups. While we have a love and respect for our land and the animals that probably goes far beyond what any of those people can fathom, we understand one thing (or most of us do)......animals are not people. Animal activists humanize every animal. They believe that animals have the same type of emotions and capabilities for feelings that humans do. And this is a mistake. This makes for a lot of troubles, for animal agriculture and other animal related fields.

Let's take a cow for instance. A cow is not a dumb animal like many people might think. But cows run on instinct. They do what centuries of cows have done. They have the sense to eat, drink, exist......but they don't think like a human and for heaven's sake, they do not FEEL like a person. They feel pain, don't get me wrong, but they don't feel pain in the same capacity as humans do. Thank God He made them that way. I would much rather see a bovine of any size get a quick zap with a hot-shot (probably a brand name for an electric cattle prod) than to see someone stand there beating on one with a stick for ten minutes. And anybody that has ever tried running a cow up a chute for preg checking or running a yearling into a truck to be shipped will tell you, it is far more humane to give them a poke with a hot shot than to beat on them. There are jackasses that don't know how to use one and will just keep buzzing, but in general, most people that have ever been around cattle very much know that you get best results from a quick buzz and that's all you need. FYI, I have been buzzed with a hot shot. Can't say it feels good, but it's not the eye-popping jolt some people would make it out to be.

And then of course, there are those against castration and branding of cattle. Good grief! I'll be honest here, when a calf is really, really little....like a day or two old, I don't like to cut (castrate) or brand them. It makes me feel bad. And if they are mine, I don't. But if I'm at some one's branding and I'm doing the cutting (yes, I cut calves) or the branding, I do what I'm told. Here is exactly what happens to a calf on branding day:

The calves and their mothers are gathered into a pen. Some people like to sort the cows out of the pen and some don't. Then the calf is roped, usually around the back feet, preferably both back feet and drug to the branding fire. There, a team of wrestlers will flip the calf with the help of the horse that is dragging it. They hold the calf for the ground crew to do the work on the calf. Usually, the calf is branded, vaccinated in the neck and castrated if it's a bull. Then the calf is released to go find its mama. Now, I am not saying this isn't painful. I know it is. It has to be. However, the pain is pretty short lived. As quick as the calf finds his mama, he goes to nursing. A sick calf won't eat so that tells me that calf isn't feeling all that bad. A fresh brand stings for a while, as is evident by the calf flipping its tail a lot. And the cutting, if done CLEANLY and properly is not nearly as painful as one might think. A good cutter will keep his (or her) hands and instruments clean and that will keep the pain and swelling to a minimum as will the conditions of the area where the calf will be for the next few days. But in general, a calf is able to travel about as far as it ever could within a day or so of being branded and castrated.

I would also be amiss if I didn't address horses in this post. I love horses. Horses are beautiful animals. They have truly enriched my life and taken me places I would have never had the opportunity to see if I hadn't had them. HOWEVER, they too are not and I repeat, are NOT humans either. They are and always will be, horses. Don't get me wrong....I think more of some horses than I do of a lot of people I know, but I can never forget that horses are horses. Horses think like horses. They do not think like people. When dealing with horses, one has to remember this. A horse does what he has learned and what instinct tells him to do. I do believe horses are much more sensitive than a cow, but that still doesn't make them a human. Horses have a pecking order and if a human doesn't establish himself as a leader to the horse very early on, a horse will assume leadership. And that is where a lot of trouble starts for some people. Without getting into my entire horse training philosophy, suffice to say, I believe a horse must be treated with respect and kindness, but needs guidance and occasionally reprimand.

While I'm at this, I need to say a little something about rodeo stock. I've been around rodeo all of my life. It is a sport that means a lot to me. And when the uninformed come in and try to tell me how cruel the sport of rodeo is, well....that just makes me mad. First of all, everyone knows that you take care of what takes care of you. The rodeo stock contractor makes his living from those horses and bulls that buck. If they don't feel good, they don't perform good. That's all there is to that. Thoses horses and bulls are fed well, treated with respect. The flank strap that seems to be the cause of so much concern goes around their flank....hence the name. If you have taken the time to look at the anatomy of a horse or bull, you will quickly see that it is quite a ways ahead of the genital area. Those big things hanging down on the back end of a bull?? That's quite a distance from where that flank strap is. It really is sad how the animal activists have stuck their uneducated noses into the sport of rodeo.

And last but not least, I will address dogs. Anyone that knows me knows I love my dogs. And while I treat them very well (my Dad often says if there is such thing as reincarnation, he wants to come back as one of my dogs), they too need guidance. I expect my dogs to mind my commands and behave properly. And again, even though Lily wears a coat when it's cold outside, she is still a dog. She eats cow poop and calf cleanings and tries her darndest to clean up if the cat barfs. She is a dog. I love her dearly and she is very, very special to me. But she is a dog.

Just a short word about vegetarians......kind of like being gay in my book. If that's how you feel, ok. But.....WHY???

But finally, I would like to say how much those HSUS ads on tv bug the heck out of me. The ones where Celine Dione sings "In the arms of an angel".......they make me sad. But the little donkey who "saw his mother worked to death" didn't know that's what was happening. If anything, he knew Mama wasn't there when he was ready for dinner. And he was sad about that. And if she really was "worked to death", well I kind of doubt it, but if she was.....well that person is an asshole......