July 11, 2020, Volume 15, Issue 27
Last week we started moving the cattle from Shayne’s Mountain to the State Piece, and on Monday morning Emily, Preston and Maddie got the last four wiley ones in. Moving cattle is always interesting; it’s amazing how much they feel just like the horses in many ways. You can be pretty far away from them and still add too much pressure if you’re not careful. While we were out there we were practicing our positions, making sure our horses were walking out, even having walking competitions. Maddie did a great job of helping me work on my seat position and working on getting Trump soft in a good walk. Janice helped me learn the right flank, and how to count the cattle as they go through the gate.
Ms Emma
After we brought the steers to the state piece groups went out and gathered some that needed to be doctored. Then, Shayne, Des, Maddie and Kevin brought the two steers that needed doctoring into a small pen and roped them so they could be doctored. I’ve been learning when I’ve gone out, what to look for when looking for steers that might need to be doctored. Things like a snotty runny nose, a swollen leg or foot, a swelled up knee, how their breathing sounds. One of the steers they roped this week had a really bad respiratory issue, it’s a good thing we brought him in to doctor him! Watching the roping was cool too and seeing how important it is to be able to do that to help these sick steers.
We’ve been continuing with our projects to make the ranch look spic and span. This week Brenda and I have been spending time in Shayne’s pond cleaning up the seaweed and algae. At least we get to be on the water when the sun gets hot! Meanwhile, Scott has been doing fencing on McKillop getting it ready for the herd when it comes time to move them from the State Piece.
Shayne’s new pump and sprinklers have been making our meadows nice and green, and as the hot weather is finally starting to roll in haying season is just around the corner. Randy, Anna, Scott, Kevin, and Willy will be hard work haying in probably just a couple weeks. Luckily, we have Emily who always makes amazing dinners for us to enjoy after a long day of work. This week for our family dinner we had Mexican night! Enchiladas, carnitas, street corn style cauliflower, and even Tres Leche cupcakes for dessert, a dinner I wish we had every week for sure!
Preston (“Dr. P”)
This week was our intern Preston’s last week. Preston has really grown on all of us and we’re sad to see him go, but he has made such commendable progress during his time here at the ranch. This was all new to Preston when he first got here, and always said yes to everything we threw at him as Anna put it so perfectly the other night. As we are like family here it’s always sad to see someone go at the end of their internship, but I’m sure we’ll all see him sometime in the future! Until that time, we wish him the best of luck. Well that’s all for this week’s adventures!
Happy Trails,
Alyssa
The jingle never gets old
Montana Mornings!
Getting feet done!