I know I’ve mentioned this before but for those of you that are new here, it probably bears repeating. I love Fall and all the “work” that comes with it. I love the cooler weather (especially after the hellaciously hot summer we’ve had here), all the riding, and gathering, and seeing how big the calves have gotten; the trips to neighbor’s to help and visit and get caught up on the goings on in Armstrong County. Yes, I love Fall!
We are fortunate enough to have pasture that runs smack into the Missouri River/ Lake Oahe. And while access to water for the cows is important and a blessing, it can also be a curse.
When we have cows turned out in the river pasture in the summer, during normal precipitation levels, they’re not inclined to find themselves stuck in the gumbo/silt combination that comprises our shore. But as the water gets sucked out faster than a kid with a straw in an root beer float, in the fall, that certainly changes.
Part of my daily routine in the Fall, includes going to the river pasture daily (at least) to make sure we don’t have any cows stuck in the mud. I don’t typically take a horse for this job as time can be of the essence. If a mama is stuck and gets too cold she can die. Typically, I take the four wheeler and Siri, of course, so I can call someone to bring a pickup and chains if need be, and so I can take photos of course! Friday was one of those perfectly perfect days- a nice breeze, some warm sunshine and cooler temps had the cattle spread from hell to breakfast, which is always a good sign!
And because I know some of you enjoy living vicariously through me, I have some photos from my trips Thursday and Friday! Thursday there were cows out in both the pasture to the north and the south- luckily those are still our pastures. But that meant I had to put them back where they belonged and fix fence.
If you look close, you can see the hole in the fence that about 20 pairs had used to visit another pasture.
Here’s another view and you can see some of the pairs in the other pasture if you look close!
And of course I had no fence-fixing supplies with me at the time, so I knew I’d have to bring the pickup back in the afternoon.
On the other side it was quite clear that they’d walked around, and clearly, through, the water-gap that was now dried up enough for them to get around.
While I took the above photo, my bottle calf, Jewel, who was mine the first summer I was here in ’08, came up to get her head scratched. She’s a good girl, raising a darn nice steer calf this year!
Last year Jewel nearly died after she tried to deliver twins- one was breach and the other was simply stillborn because it took us a while to get the breach one out. She didn’t do well until later in the summer.
This is a pretty view I think!
These girls were the culprits who walked through the hole in the fence, and then proceeded to look at me carefully while I fixed the fence!
I love hay bales and golden grass- though it went gold way too soon this year due to the drought!
These were two pairs I put back where they belonged on Friday:
Lily filly is getting really big and of course she’s gorgeous!
And no trip to see the cows is complete without a picture of one of our very photogenic brangus girls!
Yesterday, there were only two pairs out on the south side- and I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get that water-gap fixed nearly like it should be so I’ll be headed back that direction at some point to try and rectify that.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a day in my life!
Happy trails!
Great photos Jenn! The thing I hate the worst is having to get them out of the mud also. Sometimes it is sooo difficult.
Thanks for the pics and write up, Jenn. I do like living vicariously through you. Although last weekend we got to help move some cows for the first time. It was super fun, the only disappointment came in that we just needed to move them half a mile, so it was over all too soon.
Can’t wait to hear more about the Buck clinic. I know I am nowhere near ready for Horsemanship II, but I’m definitely curious about it.