by Jan Fielden
On Thursday I put Sundance up because of the rain and colder temps that were to move in. She wasn’t too happy about it but a little bit of oats makes her happier. I kept her up for 3 days because the rain kept coming with the wind. She is getting older and I didn’t want her to catch a cold or anything. I, of course, explained all that to her and I believe she understood me although she didn’t really like it. Sundance was calm the next day though and in a break in the weather, I fed her oats and walked down to her stable with a load of hay. She always makes herself a bed when she is in the stable and it is cold so that is why I had more hay than she needed for a meal.
Everyday she was up I checked her water, gave her oats, and put hay down in the stable. So, feeding day for the cows came and she knew it. When I went down to give her oats, she was prancing around with her head held high. I asked The Colonel to open the corral after he fed the Yearlings to let Sundance out. I knew she would be done with her oats by then. I couldn’t drive down there because of all the rain we have had. The Colonel and Sundance had an interesting conversation with him letting her know she needed to be at the gate and ready to come out when he opened the gate. She stood there waiting for the gate to open.
The gate needs a little bit of WD-40 on it so that it will open more smoothly. It didn’t bother Sundance though. The Colonel had just gotten it opened enough for her to get out without hitting anything, including him. And, come out she did. It was as if she was in a race at the rodeo. Off she went and scattered the cows everywhere. But since she is the one in charge the cows immediately came back to her as soon as she stopped running. Lots of energy at the Red Oak Ranch.
