We got back from the roundup over at the ranch last night. Moved cows for four days and spent quite a bit of time in the saddle. In fact, one day we rode from sunup to sundown. And we could really tell it – we are not getting any younger and are out of shape as far as spending hours and hours in the saddle. But we sure had a good time. Caught up on the lives of a lot of people we don’t get to see very often. And as always, ate some really great food. I gain weight over there – desserts are my weakness.
The first day we gathered what is called the state ground - a very large pasture with over 14 sections. All of it hilly and some of it very steep. We had nine riders to gather it on nine horses. Some real tired horses at the end of the day let me tell you. Most of them were not used to being ridden that long either. We put the cows in a smaller field and the next day gathered that and took all the cows and calves down to the middle cow camp. There seemed to be a lot of “foot rot” (bacterial infection in the hoof area) which makes them very sore footed. These had to be roped and doctored. The next two days were spent taking the herd mostly down the road to the lower cow camp.
We did not see any elk or deer while gathering the cows. Ten years ago we would always see them when gathering the state ground. I did see two wolves at the head of horse creek though. A black one and one that I would describe as brindle colored. Also saw a couple of coyotes. The Centennial Valley is where we gathered the cows and it is very close to Yellowstone National Park (less than 30 miles) so they do have a wolf problem.
Some of the remuda.
View of the Centennial Valley's east end from the high country.
Getting ready to gather the second day.
Getting the herd together.
Allen and Yvonne Martinell's grand kids on their horses.
Lunch break.
Gary and Margee.
A herd of the Matador's cattle we had to go by.
The herd coming up the Kennedy hill.
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