Making Memories in ‘God’s Country’…

Every summer for the past four years, my favorite cowgirl/chef and I have taken our horses north to the Nebraska Sandhills for a long weekend of riding.  I laugh that those few days allow me to search for peace and quiet amidst the relative chaos of my everyday life…

There exists a quiet beauty in the Nebraska Sandhills that soothes my soul…

Megan was 8 years old when we visited the first time, and our annual trip has become something that she looks forward to each year.  We travel up to the Lake Calamus area located near Burwell, Nebraska and stay with Sherry Jarvis at Heart In Your Hand Horsemanship.  I met Sherry about six years ago and find her to be a woman of tremendous natural horse savvy.

Sherry is a great mentor to Megan…

I would like to share my favorite pictures from our three days in the SandHills.  Hopefully they will provide a visual picture of our great weekend!

My little cowgirl loves her horse–they make great partners!

Megan also has a very special friend who (along with her grandma) meets us for our days of riding…

I love to watch Meg develop great communication and feel with her horse. This builds confidence and focus that will help her all throughout her life…

The beauty that they find together on those hills teaches her to respect the land and work hard to care for it…

Cooling off in the lake…I had never ‘swum’ while on horseback before.  Dandy doesn’t quite share my All American Swimmer status but he did a pretty good job…

The wild flowers were just starting to bloom…

The river was also gorgeous…

It’s always good to have a cowgirl with just a little bit of attitude :), along with—

no apparent need to keep her boots on…

I hope that each one of you has something special which soothes your soul and renews your faith. 

It’s Not About the Trailer…

When I bought my quarter horse (Dandy) from Mike Coffman in the spring of 2005, I realized the childhood dream of being a real horse owner.  While I had a couple of work horses at the feed yard, their care was primarily provided by my cowboy and I only rode them sporadically.

He full-filled a dream…

To have my own horse in my own backyard fulfilled a very special and personal dream.  Dandy was a coming four year old when I bought him from Mike.  Lucky for me, God made him a big, gentle creature and we have spent the last seven years learning from each other.

Dandy taught me a lot about communication, feel and intent.  He taught me to be a strong yet compassionate leader.  He taught me that slow and steady is always true, and to never take anything for granted.

Most importantly, he taught me that “It’s not about the trailer”…

One day, a couple of months after I brought him home from Mike’s ranch, I wanted to load him on my horse trailer and take him down to our grass pasture to ride.  I had trouble that day loading him on the trailer.  I got frustrated with myself, I got frustrated with him, and it was not a good experience for either one of us.

In the months that followed, I learned that the more time and effort that I invested into our relationship—the clearer our communication became and the easier it was to get him to be my partner.  You see, that day early on in our relationship, it wasn’t about the trailer—it was about the lack of trust and lack of good communication that made loading him challenging.

Today, it only takes the pointing of my finger and the lifting of the lead rope for Dandy to happily load into the trailer.  In fact, I move him from pasture to pasture around my house with that same point of the finger.  Sometimes it seems as though he reads my mind and offers what I desire almost before I ask for it.  Conversely, I can also provide what he needs and desires at critical times in our partnership —that is the power of a relationship that is based on trust.

What used to challenge us is now easy because I took the time to lay a good foundation and invest in the relationship…

As a blogger and a beef farmer that believes in transparency, I am often asked by other cattlemen how we can reach out to our customers that live far away from the farm to explain ranching practices or products that are used to raise beef.  There is no simple answer because I believe that it is not about the ranching practice or the animal health product any more than my problems loading my young horse were about the trailer.

I do not have a job without someone who wants to purchase my beef…

It is, quite simply, about the relationship between the farmer/rancher and the customer.  Is this relationship based on trust and truth?  Or is it riddled with distrust and inaccuracies?  In short, it is about whether you trust me to offer good care to my animals and use the resources on my farm in the best way.  Equally important, it is also about whether I trust you and value your questions and concerns regarding the way that your beef is raised.

I believe that I offer good care to them, but I need to be open to explaining that care to those that are interested…

It is not about the antibiotic, the growth hormone, the beta agonist, or the feed yard…

It is rather about the quality of our relationship and our ability to have a respectful conversation about all of the things that are listed above.

•  Can we empathize and have compassion for each other?
• Can we trust that each one of us can learn from each other and do our own special part to work for the betterment of our country?
  

  My dream gets better with each day that passes…

I think that we will find that our lives are enriched by the knowledge that we can share with each other, just as my beloved quarter horse has enriched my life and taught me that the best communication skills are the ones that are based on love and respect…

Becoming a Believer…

I have a quote down at the very bottom of the home page from football player Drew Brees’ book, Coming Back Stronger.  When I read Drew’s book a couple of years ago, it just plain spoke to me.  In fact, I have many pages of notes where I copied down quotes that I loved from the book.  The one below is my favorite…

“Believing—there are several layers to it. There’s the surface-level type of believing, where you acknowledge that something is true. Then there is a deeper kind of belief–the type that gets inside of you and actually changes you. It’s the kind of belief that changes your behavior, your attitude, and your outlook on life, and the people around you can’t help but notice.”

I am a person of very strong beliefs and faith.  I have always been strong-willed, but the confidence that I have attained as an adult stems from the development of personal beliefs and faith.  My life is centered around love, empathy and hard work because I believe that is what allows me to use my talents to achieve greatness.

I work tenaciously as a parent to teach my girls to be believers…

Although there are many different people that have served as mentors for me over the years, learning to be a caregiver for animals has inspired in me a deep level of believing that transcends everything else.  Figuring out what an animal needs and then working tenaciously to provide those needs brings me an inner confidence and a sense of peace.

Both of these animals are actively engaged with me and asking me for guidance…

As I watch my cattle thrive and grow, and then trace their performance all of the way to my own dinner plate I become even more of a believer. I am left with a sense of purpose, and inspired to work harder with each day that passes.  My love for animals is diversified and runs deep. I am happiest when I am surrounded by them.

On top of my trusty equine partner and surrounded by cattle…

My daughter, Megan, and I spent a couple of days recently in the Sandhills of Nebraska.  My husband laughs that even when I go on vacation, I take some of my animals with me.  Megan and I joined some friends at “horse camp” riding and learning how to be better communicators with our equine partners.

Megan (right) practicing her “Miss America” wave while sitting side-saddle on her horse.  She is joined by her two friends and their favorite equines…

My favorite part of the trip was watching my daughter in her own journey to becoming a believer.  Our animals not only teach her a sense of personal responsibility as she learns to provide for them and understand them, but living her dream with them also brings a sense of innate self-confidence.

The above picture makes my heart swell.  The absolute joy and personal pride in her expression is priceless to me as a parent.  At the very moment that I took the picture, Megan became a believer.  She realized what it meant to be a partner to her horse and they achieved a unique harmony that only a lucky few will ever feel.

She caught a glimpse of how wonderful it feels to use empathy and feel to successfully and unselfishly communicate.  Going forward, she will view the world differently—with a sense of confidence and understanding that enables her to successfully use the gifts with which she is blessed.

Is there a pivotal moment in your own life that caused you to become a believer?

Hands that care…

Between Archie's and my hands there is 80 years of caring for cattle...

There is a country western song entitled “Daddy’s Hands”, and it frequently comes to mind while I am handling cattle.  The chorus goes like this:

Daddy’s hands were soft and kind when I was right…Daddy’s hands were hard as steel when I’d done wrong…Daddy’s hands weren’t always gentle, but I’ve come to understand…There was always love in Daddy’s hands.

One of the most important things that I will teach my girls is to have love and respect in their hands...

I am a very structured and “no-nonsense” type of person.  I develop priorities and goals, I set rules, and I live my life by them.  My children may not always like the decisions that I make and the rules that I set, but they respect them.  The boundaries are clearly defined.

I use the same philosophy with my cattle.

As a good leader, I try to make “the right thing the easy thing” when I ask my cattle to do something.  This limits stress and increases the value of our communication.  This does not mean that I let my cattle do whatever they choose—that would be detrimental to both my safety and the safety of the animals.  I need for my cattle to do what I ask them to do.

There is a phrase that is used in  Natural Horsemanship which is three simple words:  “Ask…Tell…Promise…”

I begin by asking my cattle to do something—depending on the cattle and the refinement of our communication system, sometimes that ask is so light that it takes almost no pressure at all.  If the ask does not receive any response, then it becomes a tell which uses more life and pressure to elicit the desired response.  There are occasional times when neither the ask nor the tell gains the needed response, and then I must promise my animals that they will respond.  A promise takes even more life and pressure.  Cattle learn through the release (of pressure), but the pressure gains their attention and causes the movement.  A good communication system is marked by consistency.  Animals find comfort in good, consistent, and firm leadership (I have found that my children do also!).  This allows for learning to occur.

Archie will Ask, Tell or Promise these calves to move into the processing area---depending on how the calves respond...

Bill and Tom Dorrance (two of the early natural horsemen) talk about a concept of life in the body and feel in the communication between the leader and the animal.  When I ask my animals to move for me, I increase the life or the energy in my own body.  The cattle will feed off of this increase in life in my body and respond with an increase in energy and movement in theirs.  This feedback of information and energy flowing between the leader and the animal enables a feel and a communication to develop.

This is a concept that I find absolutely fascinating.  I have a friend who trains horses (and horse owners) and she named her business “Heart In Your Hand Horsemanship”.  When you put your “heart in your hand”, then your leadership is sincere and comes from within.  That gives your communication feel and life and makes it effective because it is on a level that a calf or a horse can understand.

Megan and I taking a break after loping (cantering) our horses in the pasture. Megan is learning how to use her life, focus, and feel to subltly communicate with her horse.

It is important to remember that my cattle have the physical advantage over me.  They weigh anywhere from 5 to 15 times as much as I do and can run and maneuver more quickly as well.  I must be firm and consistent in my leadership— my personal safety and the safety of my animals depend on it.

This is one of Calf #718's herdmates and he weighed over 1400# when he was shipped to harvest...

Sometimes my feel is “soft”…sometimes my feel is “strong”… but it is always firm and consistent.  Most importantly, my hands are filled with leadership, love, and respect.

Think like a calf…Then open the gate!

We originally were missing about 45 head…Monday morning the number was down to 13…Today it is down to 10…

10 is too many, but better than 45.

I found two calves last night in our corn field.  I got smart—thought like a calf—used patience and good cattle handling savvy—and got them in.  My cowboy and I found a third calf at the neighbor’s this morning.  We are gaining.

The second calf in the field approaching the fence...(I wasn't organized enough to have my camara for the first one...)

Handling cattle in a corral system is very different than handling cattle “at liberty” with no fences.  If any of you do Natural Horsemanship, you may be familiar with the concept of “liberty” and the communication system that you set up with your horse which enables you to interact (either on the ground or in the saddle) with no halter/bridle or lead rope.

Horses "at liberty" in a pasture...Two of them are asking me a question...

Handling cattle at liberty follows the same concepts, but the animals are much “flightier” or wilder.  Small movements mean big things, and it takes a lot of savvy to move a lone animal through a big field with tall crops and then through a gate.

The corn is 6' tall (I am only a measly 5'3" and the calf is much shorter than that...)

It also requires you to “think like a calf” in order to increase your chances of success.  Cattle are concerned with safety (they prefer being in herds/groups), they are concerned with having enough to eat (not a problem out in big green fields with growing vegetation!), they are concerned with finding water to drink.

What did I do?

I put a big red mineral tub in the middle of the gateway (mineral “licks” or “tubs” are a good magnet for cattle–they love them!).  We turned on the water tank that is near the gate.  I waited until dusk when cattle are more likely to be active in the warm summer months…and when the calves that are still in my feed yard are more likely to bawl or vocalize which will “call” the missing calves back into the group.

The mineral tub and water tank that are by the gate...

One by one two animals showed up…

I worked each calf (they showed up about 30 minutes apart) quietly and carefully down the field and toward the gate.  I waited for them to find the mineral tub and move through the gate.

I guided the calves down the alleyway and back to the home pen.

The first calf--turning to ask me a question as I moved him down the alley way. At that moment, I am "outside of his bubble" and he is confident enough to ask me for guidance.

I did all of this with great patience and small movements in my body focusing on pressure and release once I figured out where each calf’s “bubble” was.  Each calf is surrounded by an invisible “bubble”.  If you apply pressure to the bubble, then the calf will move.  It is important to only gently apply pressure to this bubble (especially in a situation where you are at “liberty” with no fences for help).  When the calf responds appropriately, then you release the pressure.  This pressure and release system is a good way to communicate with cattle (and horses too).

I penetrated the calf's bubble and he moved away from me and down the alley...

Watching the body language of the calf tells you when you penetrate his “bubble”.  This requires patience and focus.

The mosquitoes made a very tenacious attempt to “eat me alive” while I was up in the corn field.  I kept my focus on the calf and ignored the bugs…Slapping at mosquitoes with a flighty calf nearby will send the calf running in a “flight” behavior pattern which is virtuously impossible for a handler to manipulate.

Back in the home pen and bawling to his herdmates...He seems glad to be there...

I got home after dark, tired, but feeling a sense of accomplishment.  Who would have thought that a city kid from Florida would be able to act as a “calf whisperer”?

The second calf heading back in to the "home pen" with the herdmates that came out to greet him...

I am still moving forward, I am still praying that we will recover the other 10 calves, I am still caring, and I am still exhausted.  But, under it all, I know that I am gaining.  I know that I am a good calf caregiver.  And, I know that tomorrow will again be a better day.

Back home after a long day...

The Gathering…

Our farm has many different components to it.  My husband farms crops on about 3000 acres in the Platte River Valley, I care for close to 3000 animals in our cattle feedyard, and we also have some “grass pasture” where we graze cattle during the summer months.  We typically graze the pasture from the middle of April to the Middle of June, and then again from the middle of August to the middle of October.  Our grass is “cool season grass” so this allows us to get the most effective grazing rotation.

Megan (my nine year old) and I love it when we have cattle down grazing at the pasture because we love to ride our horses down there.

Getting the horses ready...

It is an added bonus when we get to check the cattle while we are down there riding.  This week it was time to gather the heifers and bring them into the cattle feedyard to finish for harvest.  So, Megan and I loaded up Magnum and Dandy and headed down there last Sunday to move the cattle onto the piece of pasture where the corrals are located.  This is the first time that Megan has gotten to help gather cattle at the pasture and, needless to say, she was pretty excited!

After we got the horses ready, we opened the appropriate gate and went searching for the cattle. Megan helps me quite a bit at the feedyard handling cattle, but we do most of this on foot.  It was new for her to gather cattle and move them while on horseback.  As we set out, I told her the rules…

1. 

   Megan beginning to group the cattle...

   Watch the cattle so that you can read their body language and effectively communicate with them.

2. Try to do all movement at a WALK.  The easiest way to move cattle is slow and steady.
3. Keep the cattle gathered together and moving as a herd.
4. Remember to use alternate pressure to influence the movement of the herd.
5. Whatever happens, stay calm, use your brain, and focus (don’t get distracted).

“The gather” went wonderfully.  It was like a beautiful and coordinated ballet.  I was so proud of both Megan and the cattle (and the horses too!).  The cattle gathered nicely and walked in a straight line for several miles

Trailing down toward the gate...

before coming to the gate.  Megan displayed wonderful patience and focus as we approached the gate, and gave the cattle the time that they needed to figure out what they were supposed to do.  She did a great job “taking the time it takes to do it right”.  It was a tremendously successful morning—not only did we get the cattle gathered and moved, but my daughter also got to practice being an “effective leader”.  One of those “life lessons” that comes with caring for animals and living on a farm—hopefully one that she will keep close to her heart!  Now, if I could only

Watering the horses after the gather is finished...

get her to focus that well when I ask her to clean her room…