We had a great day shipping and the photo shows part of the crew waiting for a load to come off a trailer.
We gathered the first pen of cattle in a pitch black morning before the sun showed even a hint of rising. I’m glad to say it was the Head Honcho that had to go back to get a calf he’d missed in the dark!
It was so cloudy we never did see the sun rise – the gray just lightened. But the weather wasn’t bad, even though we did go through a squall or two. The flakes were enormous and I thought they were going to turn my little filly from red roan to white before they melted.
In the video you can see the Head Honcho whipping us all into shape. He doesn’t usually use a flag, and in discussions after the fact, we agreed that the flag really kept the calves moving up the loading alley. I also told him that there were times that I wanted to use the flag on him, and he agreed…that at times he wanted to use it on me! We both operated with restraint and laughed about our frustrations… after the calves were on their way to Nebraska.
The cows worked off the calves great, and the calves couldn’t have loaded any better. Thanks to our great neighbors that helped haul the calves to the scale then stayed for the best part of the day – warming up and visiting. Well, getting the pay check was pretty good too, though the Head Honcho never thinks it’s big enough. But that’s just part of ranching.
At the scales, I served munchies and hot drinks out of the horse trailer my Dad bought in the 1960s. That trailer was Dad’s pride and joy for a good many years so when it was no longer feasible to use it as a horse trailer, I couldn’t bear to part with it so converted it to a “chuck wagon”. We were dry, out of the wind and the propane stove kept us toasty warm on a darned cool morning.
All in all, a great day!
Sandy Snider Stahl 