Introduction to Cattle

Continuing our adventures at Reed Valley Ranch...

After lunch, we headed over to the cattle pen.  In answer to a question that was asked, I rode Winston in Western tack for our play day.  My trail saddle is very comfortable, for both me and Winston, and it  worked well for the cattle work.  Both horses were already very tired from the morning trail ride and I didn't want to do both cattle work and obstacles in the afternoon.  Since Winston and I can do obstacle work at home, Brett and Flash can do obstacles in their sleep, and we both wanted to experience working with cattle, we headed over to the cattle pen and arena.

There was a large arena where the people with cattle experience were practicing cutting and sorting.  There was a mid-size arena where people were trying to rope cattle.  And, there was a small corral with cattle used as "Cattle 101."  We headed into that corral.  Although both Flash and Winston walked through a herd of cattle with no trouble, that was the extent of their exposure.  Flash had pushed some cattle around out on the trail about a year ago but nothing up close and personal in a small space like a corral.

There were already three people in the corral but we were told to come on in.  It was a bit crowded with five inexperienced horses, one cowboy/instructor on a horse, and about ten heifers.  The other three newbies consisted of an older round lady, wearing very clean white tennis shoes, on a round Paint mare.  She was low key and encouraging with her horse who caught on and did well.  She had ridden ahead of me on the trail ride for awhile and chatted a mile a minute.  I don't know about you, but when I am on a trail ride I don't like to talk.  I like the quiet.  I like to feel the breeze and listen to wind in the trees, the rustling of birds in the underbrush and the breathing of my horse.  I switched places with our neighbor and dropped to the back with Brett.  So, I did my best to not engage in conversation with the woman in the cattle corral but that was difficult.  She didn't seem to notice if you were listening or not, or if the cowboy was giving instructions, she just prattled on. 

The other two people were a husband and wife who had also been on the trail ride with us, but further towards the front.  The husband was a big beefy guy on a large bay horse.  He was loud and abrasive.  He carried a crop and smacked his poor horse around.  The horse never did anything wrong that I could see, he was just confused about the expectations of his rider.  On the trail, and in the pen, the rider was smacking and cursing and his horse was spinning and backing.  We were all scattering trying to keep from getting slammed.  His wife was wearing a perpetual frown and complained about everything.  Her horse was nervous and wouldn't go near the cattle.  I don't blame the horse, he was being a perfect mirror of his rider.  She didn't see it that way... it was the fault of her husband, the cattle, her horse or the cowboy instructor.  It surely wasn't her.  Needless to say, they didn't do well with the teamwork exercises.

Brett and I, and the instructor, were pleased when they gave up on the cattle and decided to go over to the obstacle area.  Of course Kevin, the cowboy, didn't say anything directly but when Brett expressed relief at having them gone he nodded. 

Kevin the cowboy -- great guy, great teacher, patience of a saint.

First, Kevin had us follow the cattle around the pen.  Winston had his ears pricked as far forward as they would go.  Kevin said that was a good sign -- he was interested and curious, not scared.  Next, he wanted us to try and move them and then to split the herd into two.  Winston wouldn't get close enough to them to make them move.  Kevin said to me "At some point, he will figure this out and the light bulb will go on in his brain.  He will 'get' cattle and you will know it.  Just keep at it until it happens."  Kevin was patient, but pushed us as well.  Winston was not happy.  He was tired, he wanted to go home, and he didn't want to get near any smelly cattle.  He started rearing and running backwards.  Kevin said, "He's not scared.  It's about horsemanship now."  Okay, then.  I didn't have spurs and I didn't have a whip but I knew Winston was testing me and I knew he couldn't win if I wanted him to see me as the confident leader.  I did have split reins so I used the end of one to tap him behind my leg.  OHHHH!  He trotted forward, up to the herd, and bit one of the heifers on the butt.  The heifer jumped away, he did it to another and another and another.  Kevin was laughing saying "He's got it now!  He can do cattle now."

Next, he had Brett and I work together as a team, cutting out two or three heifers and moving them to an opposite corner.  Then he had us work together to move the cattle to one corner and then have the entire herd go across the diagonal to the other corner, without losing a cow.  ...and we did it!  We were pleased and the horses were very happy with themselves.  We called it quits at that point.

We loaded up the horses and made the long drive back home, getting home just after dark.  We let Flash and Winston roll in the arena sand and then turned them out in the pasture for the night.

They spent Sunday recuperating.

RVR Trail Ride

Last Saturday we participated in Reed Valley Ranch's play day.  For $35 each, we could play from 10-5.  There were trail rides; two in the morning and two in the afternoon.  The trail rides were broken into two groups; a short (under an hour) easy ride and a longer (two hour) more challenging ride.  There was also the opportunity to work with cattle and to introduce your horse to obstacles.  About 50 people participated.

After parking our trailer under some huge oak trees and getting the sign-in requirements out of the way, we walked the horses around.  My goal, for myself, for the day was to be a confident leader.  I adopted the attitude of expecting Winston to be calm and well-behaved.  I didn't baby him.  We marched past other rigs, past the cattle pen, and the barn.  If his head got high, I just tugged his head down and said "keep walking, you're fine."  And he was.  He didn't look twice at the cattle.  I put him in the round pen and he just trotted around me like no big deal.  No racing, no bucking.  After five minutes, we stopped and went back to the trailer to tack up.

This is the only thing that Winston spooked at.  Sheesh, just a sheep.

We chose to go on a trail ride first, opting for the two hour ride since Winston already had aced our loop trail which is also about two hours.  There were eight of us on the ride.  The manager of the ranch led us down a dirt ranch road, then cut across a field to a trail.  We continued cutting on and off of trails throughout the ride.  We were single track on trails that were narrow and steep.  Straight up and then straight down, through arroyos and scrub brush, to the top of the ridge.  I have no idea of the elevation change but poor Winston was really tired.  The only level part of the trail was the first five minutes on the dirt road and the last fifteen minutes when we cut through some cattle in a field and back to the ranch hub.

One of our neighbors was also attending the play day and went on the same ride with us.  She had her camera and took some pictures.  If she sends me copies, I'll post them.  I didn't carry the camera because I wanted to focus on Winston.   Brett and I rode at the back.  Winston was fine.  He did try to kick Flash when Flash ran up his bumper but otherwise behaved.  He wasn't amped, and he was fine being in a long line of horses.  There were two women on the ride, mother and daughter, and the steep terrain was too much for them and their horses.  We stopped at the top of every hill to let their horses rest.  This was difficult for Brett and Flash -- they don't do well with standing around -- but I was thankful for the frequent breaks.  I knew Winston was struggling with the hills as well.

We eventually made it back down the mountain into a big meadow with grazing cattle, a windmill and a watering trough.  Winston didn't care about the cattle milling around us and he didn't care about the creaking windmill.  He drank deeply at the water trough.  Flash drank as well after playing in the water.  He loves to plunge his face in the water, up to his eyeballs, and then splash around with his nose.

Back at the trailer, we took an hour lunch break.  I was just going to loosen Winston's cinch but the saddle pad had slipped and was all catty-wompus so I took it off.  His cinch must have gotten a bit loose and then the pad slid on the hills.  Poor boy.  He dug right into his hay.  Flash was too tired to eat.  He cocked a foot and went to sleep.

Reed Valley Ranch

This morning we loaded Flash and Winston into the trailer and headed down the mountain.  Once we reached the bottom, we headed due east across the desert.  We stopped once, to pick up sandwiches, and then continued on past Hemet and Menifee and out to the mountains that stretch between Palm Springs and San Diego.  We started to climb out of the desert floor into scrub brush and chaparral. 

There were a few trees here and there as we climbed,

...but mostly it looked like this.  With each turn, the roads became more narrow and full of ruts.

Every so often there would be a big ol' house in the middle of nowhere.

You could see forever.  This is looking south out of the truck window 

After an hour and a half of driving, the pavement ended.  The last half hour was dirt road.

The dirt road started out wide, with some washboard.  Brett went slow but we still felt bad for the horses.

Then the road got narrow.

Fortunately there were many of these signs so we knew we were going in the right direction.

Getting closer!

Cattle started appearing, sleeping under trees or scrub.

After crossing this cattle grate, we were officially on ranch property.

Finally, we arrived!

It took us two hours to drive 60 miles so it was a very slow, twisty, narrow journey.

After arriving, we unloaded, signed in, paid our fee for the day, and got the horses tacked up for the first adventure -- which I will share with you tomorrow.  Right now I'm going to take a much needed shower, turn the clocks back, and go to bed an hour early without feeling guilty.  Brett and I are both exhausted -- as are Flash and Winston.