SOME THINGS HAVEN’T CHANGED

(And I hope some things never do.)

by Vickie Neilson

Have you ever seen a team
penning? Have you ever watched a quarter horse perform at a cutting competition? Perhaps you have seen roping or sorting at a local arena. Wonder where these sports originated?

They came from generations of working cowboys coming up with a way to show off their skills and those of their horses. Many riders competing at these events have never been out of an arena with their horses. Some, however, spend their weekdays on their horses working cattle. It’s their job. Even with advancements in technology and agriculture, this job is still done the tried-and-true "cowboy way."

Sometime in the fall, these modern-day cowboys will call a few friends to load up their horses and meet at a designated pasture in the dark of early dawn. The
riders range in age from teenagers to late 70s and hold day jobs
ranging from roles as doctors and lawyers to plumbers and Realtors. There is never a shortage of
volunteers, but the ones who get this call know this is a day of old-fashioned, down-and-dirty work.

By daybreak, the riders head out in small groups to gather the clusters of cattle and their offspring, scattered over several thousand acres of land. The
clusters are driven to a holding pasture and held there until all the cattle are joined up. Then
the cattle drive begins.

Sometimes it goes so smoothly that the horse and riders barely break a sweat. Other times, it can get a little "Western," with riders, cows, bulls and babies making unimaginable noise and kicking up as much dust as a Santa Ana blowing across a freshly plowed field. Cows will try to go back to find the baby they think they left behind, bulls will pick fights with other bulls (and sometimes with one of the horses) and they may all try to run up a draw instead of down the road they are being sent.

Somehow, cattle, horses and riders all end up at the same place at about the same time. The cattle are pushed into a holding corral
to be sorted.

Most of these old corrals have been set up for generations of herds. Old, weathered but still-employed wood is bolted and wired together and repaired time and time again.

Calves are sorted away from their mamas into separate corrals. It’s done quietly, calmly and with the utmost patience. Nothing
like the cutting and roping and penning you might see at a
competition. The idea here is to
do the sorting with as little
pressure and stress to the cattle
as possible. The bawling becomes deafening as mamas and babies call for each other.

Then, without any specific or apparent direction from anyone, the ropers and ground crew start to team up and go to work. It’s quick and efficient.

The roper on his horse walks quietly into the herd of calves, picks one and nimbly ropes the back legs. As soon as it is caught, the calf is dragged a short distance from the others. Two of the ground crew wrestle it down and secure it to keep a stray hoof from knocking out a tooth. A quick
surgery is performed on the bull calves, and at the same time, it is vaccinated, medicated and horns are clipped, if necessary.

Each calf is handled by no less than a crew of five for no more than five minutes from catch to release.

There are up to four crews working at the same time, going through 200 to 300 calves in a confined, crowded area. It is
loud, dusty, quick and a little
dangerous. In other words, it is choreographed chaos.

When the calf is released, it runs straight out to mama for a quick drink and a consoling cowlick. Before you know it, it’s
all over. Calves that are already forgetting what just happened will follow their mamas back out to
the pastures. The hope is that the grass will grow and the creeks
will flow.

At one time or another, we all drive by these beautiful pastures dotted with cattle that is the link to our past. It is what these
families have done for generations, and those who live it every day keep it alive for the rest of us.

I hope it never changes.