Cattle Drive B-Day

Today's the last full day. 😔 I was up at 7am and at the campfire at 7:30am for coffee. I left one of my shirts in a saddlebag last night, so I had to head to the barn to have them check before they loaded all the horses up for today. It was in the last bag they looked in... Breakfast was cheesy eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes--my favorite! Back at the room, I got altogether and headed to the barn to head out.

We drove almost as far as we did yesterday to Trego, MT. The ranch sends people up there a few times a week to help them move their cattle around. Today, we were moving all the mammas and babies to a pen, then separating out the ones without tags. Those were just born in the past few days.

Backing up, we started out with introductions of Brian, the owner, and the folks who were going to help out, Josh and Josie. We got a little history of the ranch, then headed out on a 2 hour trail ride. We are close to the Canadian border, but not like yesterday. The ride was nice, all on forest roads where we could ride side by side. I was on Kusco again, and he's slow, so I brought up the rear.

Back at the ranch, we had lunch on the porch of a 100 + year ago house that was built with many parts from the Sears catalog. It is not a kit house, though. Brian told us about the history of the ranch. It was the first in the area and the oldest in Lincoln County. The wife was German and the husband was French Canadian. Apparently neither one spoke the other's language! They bought the land in 1892, before the railroad. In the 1910s the railroad went right through their land. That's when they could get the parts for the house. It is no longer in the family, but it is now on the historic register.

After lunch we went out to move the cows. Not a lot of running, but the calves need a lot of space. We moved them through 2 pastures and into a pen. Then we had to cull out the calves without tags. It was fun! (Not for the babies...) There was one whose mamma didn't claim her. She was left in the first pasture at first, and Josh and Josie had to go get it. By the end, they think they knew who the mamma was. Apparently 1st time moms sometimes don't know what is going on at first.

At the end, I asked one of the wranglers to take a picture of me with me and my birthday tiara. This is my original one, and it is falling apart. I tried to put it on my horse, but he wasn't having it!Lue lisää