2012 Branding at Water Valley

You may recall that I didn't think the cattle drive was a good place to introduce Dexter to cows. Cows can be extremely noisy and big and the chaos and pressure of a cattle drive can be quite overwhelming for young, inexperienced horses. However, this weekend, we went back up to Water Valley to help with their annual branding and I decided it was as good a time as any to take Dexter. We arrived Friday afternoon and put Dexter and Magic in a corral in the same pasture the cows are in. Once we had a visit with Jack and Goldie Juke, we decided to saddle up and take a quiet ride through the pasture so Dexter could be around the cows without any pressure. Other than being very excited, I never felt he was overwhelmed. Eventually he settled in and we were able to walk quietly amongst the herd. The next morning we mounted up, along with several other riders and quads, to move the cows into the pens for sorting. We were charged with roaming the trees to push any straggling cows towards the pens. It was a bit overwhelming for Dexter when the herd started to come our way so we ended up doing lots of circles to help him relax. When all the cows were penned and sorting began, I tied Dexter to a fence post right at the pens to give him maximum exposure, next to a very calm horse - his buddy Magic. He was very alert and interested but never seemed overwhelmed. All in all the branding went very smoothly. With 6 ropers dragging calves, it was the most we've ever had but the wrestlers on the ground had no problem keeping up. I was in charge of vaccinating 150 calves and my legs were definitely starting to feel the burn from all those squats. Gord and Jeff made a great team wielding the branding irons and the brands came out very straight. Personally, I think branding is barbaric and I can't believe technology hasn't given cattle ranchers a more humane and practical (cost effective) way to handle cattle. We are happy to help our friends and love getting together with them every year but it is very hard for me to see the calves, especially the really young ones, being put through this process. It was nice to see all the cows reunited with their calves and settling in for the evening. Today Sherry and Candace took Gord and I for a beautiful ride through the foothills west of Water Valley. Dexter was amazing on the trail as always. We also took Ryder, Pie, and their new pup, a 6 month old healer named Dottie. Dottie hadn't been through creeks before and it took a tremendous amount of encouragement to get her to follow us across the creeks. At the first creek crossing, she eventually took a running leap off the bank, into the water. After that, every creek crossing got easier for her and she really made us all smile. There were some pretty tired horses, dogs, and riders at the end of another amazing horse day! Tovie, Dexter, Gord, Magic, and Ryder!