by Jan Fielden
The Colonel left a kneeling pad at the last job he completed on the ranch. Some time later he remembered it. So, we went down to the Yearling Pasture to see if we could find it. In the time between leaving the kneeling pad there and going to look for it, we had a 2-inch rain. Pretty sure it had gotten washed away but decided to check anyway. He was not sure where he was exactly when he finished on the fence he was working on. So, we walked the whole fence line.
The Yearling Herd decided to come along with us though. The Colonel yelled at them to go on mainly because he was afraid they would find it first and then it wouldn’t be worth using again!. So, they left him and started to follow me. I told them come on, I don’t have any cubes for you and lo, and behold, it was as if they understood me! They turned around and walked away; I couldn’t believe it.
I walked on a little further and there on a fallen tree trunk was the kneeling pad. It was still in good repair and I turned around walking towards The Colonel. We went to the truck with the cows falling all over themselves to surround the truck. It was difficult to turn the truck around with the cows and calves running in front of it.
Started off and the herd started running after us. We had to slow down some because the hogs have torn up the land down there so badly. Finally made it through that disaster area and The Colonel gunned the truck to race the cows to the other gate out of the pasture. I looked back and the cows had stopped running after us. They looked as if we had hurt their feelings because we didn’t want them with us! Such is life on The Red Oak Ranch!!
