You know you've won, in life, when people pay you to do what you would pay them to let you do


Friday, June 4, 2010

I Can't Rope Calves

Interesting day (as usual). My cowboy tells me, "We're going to check the late red angus herd. Which horse do you want." I think, oh good an easy day I'll ride nutsy(Pic, the paint horse).

He's what is known as a long circle horse. He has his problems but you can ride a long ways and fast on him. We've learned to work together pretty good for most jobs but roping calves isn't one of them.

Besides I am the worst calf roper. I can rope foot-rot cranky bulls, 1800 lb Simmental cows, yearlings, long horns, muleys (cattle with no horns) but to save my life I can't catch a calf (only if they are so sick I could catch them on foot).

So it turns out that he really meant the early red angus herd (I so took the wrong horse) and I don't discover the slip of his tongue till we're 4 miles from the house. He's riding my colt Hooch (for the 3rd time) and inevitably there is a sick calf. Hooch is a good colt but not up to running up on a calf quite yet. He can hold them but not ride up to the pocket (the correct spot from which to throw your rope) as fast as a calf can run.

Not good, just not good, . . . the calf didn't get treated. As fast as he ran I don't think he was all that sick anyway.

6 comments:

Linda said...

Just don't think of them as being calves....think of them as being what you can catch.

BridgeEtta said...

Oh. . . that it was that easy. Too many years of that bad habit (team roping) known as no dip in my loop and: if they would travel straight, if the cow wasn't in the road, if there were no badger holes/gopher cities/sage brush/rose bushes/blow outs/boggy spots or rotten thorny buffalo berry brush, and if I didn't have to go that fast because they run like they think the devil is after them. Nothing runs like a scared calf.

The Wife said...

I'm not a good calf roper either. I did some ranch rodeos and it seemed my best strategy was to run them until the were tired!

LindaG said...

I wouldn't be able to make a lasso, so you definitely get my respect.
Does your husband choose your horse because Hooch is inexperienced and your husband is very experienced? Does he hope that Hooch will learn from him?
Sounds like the calf will be fine.

BridgeEtta said...

I wish I had that option. I don't mind running those yearlings with foot rot or pink eye but little calves with pneumonia, not such a good idea.

Anonymous said...

you're lucky, I can't rope anything really but a tree :) I think I'll stick to showing my cutting horses :)