August 24th Today was a big day for Joe. They were moving cows over to the Sawtooth pasture, which is the furtherest one from the cabin. For perspective, it’s in the Blacktail over by Dillon. Normally they split the move into two days; but decided to try it in one day today. When Joe got home he said the step counter on his phone read 27 miles from their ride. Jazz looked awful tired, so I can believe it! August 25th Grandma and Grandpa Potter came over last night to visit. That means I get to ride with Joe this morning. We grabbed some strays that showed up in the water gap right by the cabin to trail to Upper Robb where they belong. I rode with him until a little past the McGuire cabin before I had to head home. They scheduled two interviews for me in the final process for a remote job. When I got back to the barn I patted Winston before putting salve on his saddle sore and turning him out. I survived my final round of interviews, hopeful o get it so I can quit waitressing. I sat outside with everyone to drink a celebratory Ranch Water to round out the day. August 26th We had the best day today! I was having a hard time getting Ruby to nap so I laid out a blanket in the yard, hoping the fresh air would help. Dad was having fun doing some tummy time alongside baby. Right as she fell asleep, Shiloh and Kim arrived, followed by Kelsey not too long after. No more napping was had after that! We pushed Ruby in the stroller to the barn to see how Joe was doing on his wiring project. Plus, everyone wanted to pick out their horse for tomorrow. Granny T got here today too, so we have a full house! It’s a yearly tradition to do table nachos for company, so we did that tonight. I cover the table in tin foil and make the biggest heap of nachos possible. i convinced Joe to build a campfire for all of us. After I put Ruby to sleep, the crew sat outside visiting by the fire. My puppy, Dealer, loved Kim and he loved her! We were lame and didn’t stay up very late. August 27th After breakfast, Joe headed down to help with the UCO training. Granny T was here to watch baby while the girls headed down to the barn to catch horses. There’s yet another group of strays at the water gap, so that became our first stop. It took a bit longer than expected because we had one yearling who refused to cross back over the creek. Once we got them trialing along the fence towards the yard, Dealer kept trying to go with Kim. I called for him several times before using his collar. Unfortunately, this caused him to avoid me even more. He left me and went home, The gate we were going through goes through the yard, so I sent everyone to keep trying while I grabbed my dog. He could not be bothered to go with me. I ended up carrying him out of the yard and a ways into the pasture. I set him on the ground and got on my horse again. The little group trailed nice to Upper Robb. After getting everything there we continued to ride up the creek looking for bulls. We stopped just below the little “lakes” so I could pump. It was perfect timing as a storm rolled in. The thunder bounced off the ridges around us, only giving us a few sprinkles. When clear sky returned, we kept climbing. The first bull we found was towards the top of the draw. Joe mentioned there being two bulls so I left that one there as we rode higher. We rode all the way to the gate in the Notch without finding another bull. It was already past 12, so I had Kelsey and Kim go back after the bull we passed. Meanwhile, Shiloh and I searched the next draw over as we rode down. We raced along the trail to the lakes, our two grey horses running side my side. I laughed as Winston spooked at puddles. Today was the first day since having Ruby I didn’t have anxiety while riding. I feel so much relief and joy in that. The cows at the lakes looked great but no sign of the other bull. Further down the draw is a notoriously boggy spot that we usually ride above on the hillside without issue. Nevada sunk immediately, struggling to get her footing. Once we made it out, I got off to check her over to make sure she was alright. Shiloh after watching this, stepped off to hop Winston across. Much wiser than I. When we got to the creek bottom, we didn’t see Kelsey or Kim. Shiloh and I loped our horses to the ridge next to where the bull was in hopes of spotting them. We didn’t see them, so we headed back down the creek thinking they must have beat us down. Sure enough they weren’t far ahead of us, so our ridge excursion was very unnecessary. We got the bull turned towards the creek crossing when he darted for the willows. Kim was closest to him, so I told her to put Dooley in turbo. She did great keeping up with him the best she could. We fought him across the first creek crossing, but he brushed up at the last crossing before the hill to go through the gate, He did not want to leave, our dogs weren’t convincing him either. My dog Wylie is not the bravest when they fight, Dealer was scared, and Kelsey didn’t want to send Lark in there alone. Smart choice, bulls can get pretty nasty when they decide they’re done for the day. To our dismay, we had to leave the bull less than 100 yards from the gate. On our trek home the sky opened up with big, cold drops of rain. I was nervous we’d get stuck out there in the lightning if it decided to start cracking. Kelsey and Kim raced ahead, with Shiloh and I bringing up the rear. I joked it felt like we were a bunch of bank robbers. Even though I was soaking wet from the cold rain, I was in awe of how beautiful it was. The huge rain drops falling as we galloped, visible from the hints of light. A moment I wished I could freeze time. We unsaddled our wet ponies to head to the house for lunch. I was happy to see baby, I don’t like being apart too long. Everyone changed out of their wet clothes into true cowgirl attire, sweats and work boots. Naturally, once we all changed the sun came back out. With the nice weather, we hopped aboard the four wheelers to go look for a sick calf Joe mentioned. Shiloh was the resident baby whisperer and got Ruby to finally nap. Nap trapped, she stayed behind with my mom. No luck finding the calf, but we had a fun mini adventure to round out the day. Shiloh, Kelsey, and Kim had to leave for work tomorrow. I was so sad they already had to go, we had the best time. Shoutout to the girls for all of the great pictures!
0 Comments
|
AuthorThis is a blog to share many stories, laughs, adventures and lessons learned by yours truly, Haley Potter. Archives
July 2023
|