Trusting Cows

Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life

It was time to get my little bunch of cows to their summer pasture. Due to the difficulties of trailing them the six or so miles to the pasture I’d leased, it was decided to haul them. It would be way simpler than keeping them out of alfalfa fields and other unfenced or poorly fenced areas, plus we wouldn’t have to cross a busy highway or deal with all the yappy dogs on the route. It was just my then husband, our small son, and me to do it, and we had one stock trailer at our disposal. The plan was to haul the cows up to the little holding trap first, then the calves.
We had already hauled one load up to the trap in the corner of the leased pasture, and had a trailer tire
go bad on the way back so the spare was gone that generally rode on the side of the trailer. The county
road had recently been graded, after a long spell of neglect, so every rock, piece of iron and other
paraphernalia from the ditch was on the road. I had a feeling that wouldn’t be our only tire to fall victim to it, and had suggested that maybe we ought to get the other spare out of the nose of the trailer just in case. I was voted down by the husband, as he just wanted to be done with the job and go do something else.
So, we’d loaded the trailer with cows and headed out. We had gotten about a mile and a half from home when another tire went flat. I mean, like really flat. That spare in the nose was sure not very handy to get to at this point. I stepped up on the side of the trailer and looked in at which cows were in the front of the load. Gosh they looked big. But, thankfully, the gentlest cow on the place was one of those standing
by the side door and with her butt against the front. However, the Brahman cross cow who was a little
snorty was the other one in the front. That cow positively loathed my husband, so I drew the short straw to have to go into the trailer to get the spare out of the nose.
We opened the narrow side door by the gentle cow, me talking to her all the while. I rubbed her hind
quarter, left my hand on her, and grasping the side of the door frame, stepped up into the trailer, squeezing myself in between her hind end and the front of the trailer and the door was closed behind me. I stopped there and talked to the Brahman cross cow for a bit. She looked a little concerned at our close quarters, but wasn’t panicked. She had her head turned so she could see me out of her right eye. I stayed very calm, and slowly reached out and rubbed my hand on her hip, staying behind the gentle cow as much as was possible. The long eared cow shifted over a little and twitched her tail, but couldn’t go further. The two cows facing toward me weren’t very concerned and stood still.
I moved pretty slowly over behind Brahmer, and finally, reaching as far as I dared, had the off side latch in my reach. I unlatched it, then had to let the gate into the nose down to rest on the hips and backs of the two cows. The Brahman cow never moved, just watched me as I did it. I turned so I could reach into the nose, then grasping the spare tire, dragged it toward me, making a scary scraping sound in the process. I felt the hips of the two cows I was pressed between quiver a little at it, but they didn’t jump. If
either had, the gate would have probably have come up and slammed me in the jaw.
When I had the spare tire slid to me, I got a good hold on it, and lifted it enough to clear the gate
and slide it onto the back, then down the far hip of the gentle cow. My husband opened the side door
again and took the tire out of my hand. I closed the nose gate, then carefully moved around the gentle
cow’s tail and squeezed out of the gap, then out the side door.
Once on the ground, I finally took a long breath. I was sweating, though I didn’t remember it being that hot in the trailer. My husband had sometimes cussed because I could do things with those cows that he couldn’t but, it sure paid dividends that day. They trusted me, and I had to trust them.
I was the one who usually did most of the cow work, with the help of my little boy. The cows had been mine longer than I’d had the husband, so, we had a long standing working relationship. Still, it was a risky maneuver to have to get into the trailer with a load of cows. My clothes had some grassy green
smeared on them, but that was the only harm done that day.

 

cows

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....

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