Another Day on the Alvord Ranch
The day started at 2.45 a.m. The wind had been blowing 45-50 mph for the last couple of days. At 3 a.m. breakfast, the decision would be made whether we were going to saddle up and head out to gather 750 pairs off the Sheepshead pasture, roughly 50,000 acres of winter pasture. The water had dried up and the cow pairs needed to be moved closed to the well.
Saddled and loaded, we started out for Sheepshead. The hour long trip was down gravel ranch roads, and the stock trailers and ranch trucks rattled along the way.
The sun was just coming up when we finally unloaded and started the long ride up the mountains. We had to ride the canyons and waterholes to check for pairs, push them over the ridge and drive them down the mountain, meeting up with the other rides and the cattle that they collected along the way.
The wild horses were at most of the watering holes we checked, getting their first swallows of cool water before the heat of the day set in. The largest herd we saw that day was about 40 horses, big and fat from the abundance of rich spring pasture grass.
By mid-morning, we were heading down a narrow rocky mountain path, single file with about 550 cows and calves. The calves were growing tired and needed extra help getting down, wanting to turn back but needing to keep going straight. Calves are like a tube of toothpaste. If you put a small amount of pressure on them, you will get a small reaction. If you put the squeeze on them and push too hard, they scatter and you will spend alot of time getting them back in line.
After everyone finished and the cows were in the valley, we waited for the trailers to arrive at the meeting spot. I unsaddled my horse while waiting. I loaded my young horse into the last spot on the trailer and we headed back to the Alvord. It was hard to keep from dozing off in the truck after the long day's ride.
As we rounded one of the last corners about a mile from the ranch, the tailgate swung open. We were going about 40-45 mph at the time. The pin in the tailgate had sheared off and the secondary spring latch had given out. In a cloud of dust, we pulled to the side of the road and the cowboy in the front seat jumped out. When he returned, he told us one horse was missing. My brain was slow to realize that Rio, my grulla gelding was the horse missing and we turned around to find him. By the time we reached Rio, the rig that was following us had reached him, standing in the middle of the gravel road. I jumped out of the truck to find Rio surrounded by cowboys. The snap on the lead rope had broken off, otherwise he would have been dragged. As I walked around to his front side, my eyes scanned him, stopping on each one of his wounds and scrapes, analysing each one as to severity. I stopped when I got to his left knee. There was a hole the size of my fist, apparently where he had landed on it when he hit the gravel road. After hitting his knee, he rolled on to his back, scraping another hole in his whithers before rolling over onto his back then onto his feet. He looked like a kid that road a bike down a driveway too fast and crashed.
Amazingly, he loaded right back into the same trailer he had just fallen out of. We took him back to the ranch, by then he was shaking, dirty, and bleeding from all the scrapes but his knee really worried me. It was deep, full of gravel and I had no way of knowing at the time if his knee was broken or if there were any fractures. I wrapped it after flushing it out as best I could and loaded Rio up again for a 2 hour trip to the closest vet clinic.
I will pick him up tomorrow after he spent the weekend in the Idaho Equine Center. Rio's knee is wrapped from ankle to elbow, and is unable to even lie down at this point. But he is alive and as long as there is no infection in the joint, he should be fine in a few months.
Just another day on the ranch......
Saddled and loaded, we started out for Sheepshead. The hour long trip was down gravel ranch roads, and the stock trailers and ranch trucks rattled along the way.
The sun was just coming up when we finally unloaded and started the long ride up the mountains. We had to ride the canyons and waterholes to check for pairs, push them over the ridge and drive them down the mountain, meeting up with the other rides and the cattle that they collected along the way.
The wild horses were at most of the watering holes we checked, getting their first swallows of cool water before the heat of the day set in. The largest herd we saw that day was about 40 horses, big and fat from the abundance of rich spring pasture grass.
By mid-morning, we were heading down a narrow rocky mountain path, single file with about 550 cows and calves. The calves were growing tired and needed extra help getting down, wanting to turn back but needing to keep going straight. Calves are like a tube of toothpaste. If you put a small amount of pressure on them, you will get a small reaction. If you put the squeeze on them and push too hard, they scatter and you will spend alot of time getting them back in line.
After everyone finished and the cows were in the valley, we waited for the trailers to arrive at the meeting spot. I unsaddled my horse while waiting. I loaded my young horse into the last spot on the trailer and we headed back to the Alvord. It was hard to keep from dozing off in the truck after the long day's ride.
As we rounded one of the last corners about a mile from the ranch, the tailgate swung open. We were going about 40-45 mph at the time. The pin in the tailgate had sheared off and the secondary spring latch had given out. In a cloud of dust, we pulled to the side of the road and the cowboy in the front seat jumped out. When he returned, he told us one horse was missing. My brain was slow to realize that Rio, my grulla gelding was the horse missing and we turned around to find him. By the time we reached Rio, the rig that was following us had reached him, standing in the middle of the gravel road. I jumped out of the truck to find Rio surrounded by cowboys. The snap on the lead rope had broken off, otherwise he would have been dragged. As I walked around to his front side, my eyes scanned him, stopping on each one of his wounds and scrapes, analysing each one as to severity. I stopped when I got to his left knee. There was a hole the size of my fist, apparently where he had landed on it when he hit the gravel road. After hitting his knee, he rolled on to his back, scraping another hole in his whithers before rolling over onto his back then onto his feet. He looked like a kid that road a bike down a driveway too fast and crashed.
Amazingly, he loaded right back into the same trailer he had just fallen out of. We took him back to the ranch, by then he was shaking, dirty, and bleeding from all the scrapes but his knee really worried me. It was deep, full of gravel and I had no way of knowing at the time if his knee was broken or if there were any fractures. I wrapped it after flushing it out as best I could and loaded Rio up again for a 2 hour trip to the closest vet clinic.
I will pick him up tomorrow after he spent the weekend in the Idaho Equine Center. Rio's knee is wrapped from ankle to elbow, and is unable to even lie down at this point. But he is alive and as long as there is no infection in the joint, he should be fine in a few months.
Just another day on the ranch......
posted by the Pretty Pony | 11:21 PM
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