A Tale Of Barbed Wire

Barbed wire has always been a rather controversial type of fencing in the west, but it does work well and keeps the cattle in. Properly maintained, it is inexpensive and not terribly offensive to the eye. Old rusty barbed wire is even a popular item for rustic style decor and I'm even guilty of keeping some around for using in my artistic endeavors.
However, there is another side of barbed wire that makes one wonder if it really does have a life of its own. I have several frayed and torn items of clothing from trying to slip between the wires into the neighbors pasture on my walking expeditions. I recently had to crawl completely out of my sweatshirt to get extricated from a particularly vicious barb that caught my back and just wouldn't let go no matter which way I moved. I'm sure my dog thought I was nuts, since she just slips under the bottom strand and keeps going. As a matter of fact, she thinks barbed wire is much, much better than the electric fence (that's another story altogether!).
Last week I found another reason to dislike barbed wire. We were burning off my brother-in-law's pasture and it got to be well after dark. My sister-in-law and I were in my husband's pickup and we wanted to get back out on the road without having to drive all the way around their pasture, so sis says to just go thru the open gate into the neighbor's pasture and follow the fence down to their gate onto the road. Seemed like a nice simple plan and she assured me that they had gone through there earlier and I just had to go around one little brush pile and we'd be fine. Well, we hadn't gone 20 yards before I heard this nasty scratching, dragging sound and right after that the truck stopped and wouldn't go any further. Thinking I had picked up a branch or something I put it in reverse and tried to back up - no luck. Sis looks out her door and says "Uh-oh, we've pick up some barbed wire". "Some" was putting it mildly. Apparently the neighbor had replaced a large area of fence and left the old stuff in a tangled pile waiting for me to come along and "pick up". We tried pulling it free, but there were so many strand's going around the tire, it looked like motorcyle spokes. Nothing else to do but call our husbands who were on the other side of the pasture to come a rescue us with some wire cutters. Turns out wire cutters were no match for that mess, they had to go get a portable torch and crawl under the pick up and cut about 20 strands that were wrapped around the axle also. It was nearly midnight, flashlight batteries were growing dim, and it was starting to rain when we finally got all the barbed wire cut out of the truck and safely removed from causing any other harm. I was all set for a nice lecture on the way home, but my sweetie just told me it could happen to anybody.
All I know is: 1) don't drive around in other people's pastures after dark, and 2) don't ever follow directions from my sister-in-law! Oh, and I NEVER leave any barbed wire laying around for some unsuspecting person or animal to get tangled up in!

Why Do They Like The Mud So Much?

I wonder why every time it rains and gets muddy, my horses just have to go out and roll around in the mud! Normally I wouldn't mind, but this next weekend I promised my granddaughter she could take her to a 3 day campout/clinic. Looks like we're going to be doing a bath! That'll serve her right!

I can't complain about the rain, though, we were needing it, but it sure makes choring more of a pain. A few more weeks and the cattle will be going to pasture. That'll take care of the chores, but of course then it's time to start planting feed and cutting hay.

Horse shows will start about the middle of May and that will keep the weekends busy for a couple of months. Wouldn't life be dull if we didn't have so much to do?

Oh No! The Cattle Are Out!

This morning, as my sleepy husband was sitting on the couch yawning, with one sock in his hand, I looked out the window and exclaimed "Oh no!, the cattle are out!". Hubby jerked and jumped up, running towards the kitchen door. I barely had time to say "April Fools!" before he ran out barefoot. Needless to say, I got a few playful lashes with the sock. The really funny part of this is that I do it every year - and he falls for it every year! It's really not very fair since I come from a family of practical jokesters and he just doesn't have the experience to keep up. I'm staying on alert for the rest of the day, though!

I'm surprised I haven't heard from my daughter. A few years ago I got a phone call from a lady saying she lived not too far from me and that my horses were in her yard. It was fairly early and I had to throw on some clothes and just as I headed out the door, the phone rang. I almost ignored it, but then decided to answer. My sweet daughter exclaims "April Fools"! I actually started to tell her that I needed to go, the horses were out, when it hit me. She had had a nurse she works with call me. Ok, I know I probably deserved that! Especially since I had played almost the exact same joke on her a few years before when she still lived at home. It's the only time I ever remember her leaping out of bed that fast! It's nice to know the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!

A little humor and laughter is good for us all, and when someone gives you the opportunity to laugh at yourself as well, we all benefit! (Hope my hubby thinks of it that way!)

Twins

I promise this is the last blog about baby calves, but I couldn't resist sharing these two little cuties. Born a week ago, they are the littlest calves I've ever seen. Of course, my hubby, who tries to raise cattle for profit, isn't as impressed with them as I am, especially since they and their momma have to be penned up separate from the rest of the herd. That means a little extra work feeding & watering, and they won't grow as fast as the others so that will add time and money to get them raised, but I still enjoy watching them and marvel at how strong they are for their size. They race around and chase my dog out of their pen like they are really tough. Of course, the dog is bigger than they are, and she knows she isn't allowed to chase back, so they think they are all that!!

Can I Be Grandma to Cows?

A couple of years ago we lost a couple of cows that had month old calves. Since they were too little to wean I got the job of bottle feeding them. I like to do that with heifers, cuz I know we can keep them. There's not much future for steers here! Anyway, these two little girls did great and were turned back out with the herd last summer to take their place as cows. They aren't as tame as they used to be, but will let me get pretty close and sometimes give them a scratch.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, on the coldest (seemed like) night of the winter they both decided to calve at nearly the same time. The first one, "Uno", got along fine, but when we checked in the early morning, "Ebony" had just had hers and instead of drying off, it's hair was completely frozen!!! Got them all into a barn with some heat and dried off and they are doing great. I watch them racing around in circles and playing with the other calves and I have to say, I do feel a little bit of grandmotherly pride!
Just another thing I like about country life and being a "cowgirl".

Great Cowgirl Horse Fest!

Doesn't seem possible that it's time to start thinking about the horse show season again. My granddaughter is really getting fired up to get started. My woolly mare with her fat hay belly isn't quite as excited! :0)
There's a big Equifest Event in Wichita, Kansas this weekend and we are headed down to check out all the latest fashions and learn a few tips for working with our horses. I'm really looking forward to it.
Of course, we're still checking out the great deals at The Cowgirl Boutique. Hoping to pick up some great ideas to pass along here.