So much is happening in the market right now, today, I am taking a mental break …
Living on a ranch has it benefits, no doubt, but when you are out in the “boonies,” you do have an obligation to help your neighbors when it is necessary. Helping a neighbor runs the gamut of needs, however, sometimes helping means doing something unexpected and out-of-the ordinary.
A week or so ago, our farrier asked if I thought the ranch next door could handle 18-20 heifers grazing the property. I told him I thought it could, so I gave him the phone number of the ranch owner. Well, they got together and worked out a deal, and the heifers arrived several days later. Mind you, before releasing the heifers, the heifer owners walked the fence line and made all necessary repairs. So, for several days, all was well with heifers, and then I received a phone call …
“Do you have the phone number of the folks who brought the heifers?” Miguel asked. Miguel lives on the ranch and takes care of it, and the reason he called me was that the neighbor on the other side (who is deaf) brought him a note telling him that a herd of cows had just crossed his property running at a fast pace. The reason Miguel called and not the owner was the owner had just gone off to spend a couple of relaxing weeks in Mexico.
“Yes, I do. Here it is,” I told him. He called them, and then my farrier called me asking me to go and check out the situation, assess it, and then call him back so he could round up the folks necessary to gather the heifers back and get the fence repaired, if it needed repairing. Seemed simple enough, but you have to remember, I live some thirty minutes from anywhere, and he was out on his shoeing rounds, so getting this “rescue” together was a big deal, especially if the cattle took off into the rugged hills.
Anyway, I went over to the ranch and talked with Miguel to gather the information my farrier requested; however, as I was listening to Miguel explain about the deaf neighbor and the note, it occurred to me that the neighborly thing to do then and there was to simply round up the heifers and drive them home. My options were to saddle up one of the mares, or to get in the golf cart I had driven over to the ranch (yes we have a little golf cart for putting around, no pun intended) with Miguel in his ATV and go get them. Since our horses haven’t been ridden in a while (meaning I would likely get dumped when I started pushing cows around), and time was of the essence, I chose the golf cart/ATV combo to get the job done.
So off Miguel and I went, he in his ATV and me in my little golf cart. Well, just down the road apiece, actually just on the other side of the ranch next to the ranch next to me, there they were just munching away deep in a wide open field with really high grass and obviously untended for some time. It looked quite rough for a golf cart, so I sent Miguel in on the ATV to herd them to me waiting on what was passing for a road into that field.
Long story short, we rounded up the heifers and brought them home, but I have to tell you, I began laughing to myself when I pictured the scene – me driving a little golfcart right up next to 18 big animals running to get somewhere, anywhere, because we were whistling and yelling at them. You see, this is what you do out here – you help your neighbors when they need help …
Trade in the day – Invest in your life
