Cody the Horse vs Hazel the Milk Cow
- January 6, 2025
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- Jan Swan Wood
Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
Years ago, I had the most evil, witch of a milk cow I called Hazel, amongst other things. Her exploits were many, but one of the funniest things I saw happen was when she got educated by a horse. Cody was a stout gray mare who had a fanny on her a yard across, it seemed. She was nice to be around for other livestock, so I never worried about putting a few cows, calves or even the milk cow in with her in the pen with the round bale feeder. She just got along with everyone, never causing a problem.
I was filling the water tank in the corral one day and was just leaning on the fence and looking at the
stock in the corral. Cody was kept in for the night horse, plus I think there was a lame cow or two and
Hazel sharing the pen. Cody was looking for the premium bites of alfalfa leaves that always sift to the
bottom in a bale feeder, so was leaned way in, head buried in the hay, oblivious to all about her.
As I watched, Hazel got up from the sunny side of the corral where she’d been chewing her cud. She
stretched and stood there for a moment. I saw her look over toward the bale feeder. Cody’s big old hind
end was pointed toward Hazel and about 30 feet away. The whole rest of the bale feeder was available,
except for the space Cody took up.
Hazel gave a little toss of her horns and started walking toward Cody. Cody, of course, was unaware of
Hazel’s approach as her head was buried in the hay, plus, she had no reason to be concerned as they’d
been corral mates for weeks. As I watched I was sure that Hazel would divert around Cody to get to the
hay. Had I not been sure of that, I’d have intervened.
Hazel zeroed in on the large gray target before her, lowered her head into position and without
breaking stride, horned Cody in both cheeks, and slid the sharp points up, rolling little balls of hair on the tips of her horns. Cody jumped forward, then jerked back, soundly rapping her head on the rail of the feeder before getting extricated from it.
Whirling around she saw Hazel standing there with a smug look on her face. Cody’s quiet, peaceful
demeanor changed instantly! She snaked her head out, grabbed Hazel by the skin on her shoulder and
gave a crunch. Hazel spun away and Cody’s teeth snapped as they slid off the shiny black hide. Biting her again on the ribs, then on the hind quarter, Cody drove the astonished Hazel to a corner, then whirled around and let Hazel have it right in the boiler room with both hind feet. She must have kicked Hazel a half dozen times or more, planting both hind feet with a sharp crack, knocking the air out of Hazel each time.
Hazel bellered and tried to make herself smaller, but Cody just kept right on. Finally, Hazel laid down,
head outstretched like a baby calf hiding in the grass. Satisfied that her point had been made, Cody gave Hazel a really dirty look with ears flattened on her neck, then stomped away.
I approached Cody and examined her hind quarters to be sure the horns hadn’t punctured her. The
hide was oozing a little blood where the horns had been run up her quarters and the hair was missing but no holes had been made. I went to the barn for some salve and doctored the two streaks of tender hide, petted Cody and then looked over toward the evil Hazel. She was standing as small as she could be in the corner, head down, just looking at Cody with big eyes.
Her ribs were no doubt bruised badly, but she wasn’t really hurt. It’s amazing how little concern I had for her plight. Ever after, though, Hazel was sure polite around horses, most especially around Cody.
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Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
About Jan Swan Wood
Jan was raised on a ranch in far western South Dakota. She grew up horseback working all descriptions of cattle, plus sheep and horses. After leaving home she pursued a post-graduate study of cowboying and dayworking in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota....