real life roping.

Another non roping story: I was one on foot checking and counting cows. I saw a less than a week old calf with some nasty snot hanging to the ground from it's mouth. I put the sneak on the calf and dove on it, taking it to the ground. The snotty looking stuff turned out to be the plastic liner from a feed sack. The calf took umbrage with me holding it to the ground and let out a mad beller. Do you know how small and humble you can feel when there are thirty cows surrounding you on the ground at the distance of about three feet?
 
You gotta be careful as to how much force you use to pull that calf, 400 lbs. is about all you want. That's where a seasoned cow pony is invaluable. Some people use a calf jack but I never have. Those jacks can exceed 1,500 lbs.
 
Lot of places I have hunted down by the border the cattle were wild and were worked maybe once a year if that often. Never felt very comfortable when surrounded by a group of them while on foot and snuck off from them as quick as I could. Those old boys who drove them Longhorns had a lot of nerve!
 
you know, i was involved in one stampede.
standing at one end of the pen, but outside it, i saw a tremendous bolt of lightning hit the ground just the other side of the cows.
they turned n came at me, like they were all one animal.
there was no place to go n i knew i was dead.
they were coming at 100mph n i had no horse in reach.

all that was between us was a few strands of bob wire.
we all know any cow can get thru bob wire anytime she wants to.
40 cows wouldn't even notice the wire as they mashed the fence flat.
but, they all skidded to a stop at the wire.
so, here i am, typing this stuff.
amazing.
 
Susie: Speaking of stampedes...Most of what I know about cows I learned from watching movies like "Red River"!! (Note: if you look real close, you'll see Iggy and Dave Keith when they were somewhat younger):

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aN0alpNLQak[/ame]

Ain't this how it's done??

Best Regards, Les
 
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Aloha,

As a City boy, this is More than I wanted to know about cows.

The Wife is correct, beef comes wrapped in plastic at the local market.

I don't know how to ride a horse and I think I'm too Old to learn.

Don't think my backside can handle one or I will be able to walk after a short ride.

But, I do enjoy reading all your stories.
 
My only roping story involved my then 10 year old son who came zooming along on his bike just as I for some reason was tossing a rope about. It was a long throw and I never thought it would work but it did. When I saw the loop go over his head, I let go but there was so much rope that it still closed on his neck. Man I felt bad, such a dumb thing to do especially when he had basketball practice that afternoon and his coach was the local judge.
As we walked into the gym, I had warned my son to not answer any questions about the red mark on his neck with, my dad tried to hang me. The judge saw us and immediately asked, "what happened to you Rob, it looks like someone tried to hang you?" Thank goodness that was the only inquiry.
 
Years ago I had a steer that weighed about 700 lbs. and he was mean and didn't have brain one. Didn't matter what I wanted to do because he wanted to do something else. He got out and I couldn't find him but several days later I was on the tractor and saw him standing at the edge of the bottom in some trees. I rode on by like I didn't see him and went to the house and got a rope. I went back and got close enough to throw and he decided to leave. I made the best throw I have ever made in my life, pulled the slack and jumped of the tractor and hit the ground running and got the rope around the tree. The tractor was on level ground and rolled to a stop. I knew I wouldn't be able to untie the rope from the tree and hold him so I went to the house and got my wife, another rope and tractor. We took him to the house between 2 tractors and penned him up good for a few weeks until he gained a little fat and he tasted pretty good. Larry
 
Susieqz,


This thread of yours caused me to recall this lit'l mis-adventure.......




*
This little deal took place sometime back, a couple of decades ago.

My wife's Dad came blowing into headquarters one afternoon layin' on the pickup horn, "That old Belgan stud horse is about to run one of your mares to death over in that south pasture!"

We had this city dude neighbor who let this stud stayed out 9/10s of the time and would tear down fences trying to breed all the mares in the entire country.

I happen to have a good stout horse that I was 'schooling' tied to a post there just kinda handy.
So, I mount up and head over that way.
Well, that stud had run that little mare down pretty good, she was lather up from her ears to her hocks.

I build me a loop and hulahanded that ol' gentleman, jerk the slack up to his jaw and take me a dally or two. I's got him trottin' along toward the gate everythings goin' fine, till this outlaw takes a notion to mount my saddle horse...

Out of the corner of my eye I see that big long headed parrot mouthed rescal showin' me how old his is, thinking he's goinin' to take a plug out of my shoulder. I draw my revolver and snap a shot in his general direction, well that's when things got sideways quick.

Somehow I dropped my coils and loose a wrap on the horn, that twine is smokin' the mulehide all the way to the knot...Ol' devil runs off, jumps fence and up the road he goes with a darn good 60' rope. Ride back to headquarters, get pickup truck and rifle. Find stud standing at neighbor's gate, neighbor want to know what I want.
"I want my rope back!"

Su Amigo,
Dave
 
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Up in Montana, going on a hundred years ago or so, I worked on the
railroad. One of my jobs was sanding cattle cars. That's about as
close as I got to being a cowboy.
One time I was watching them load a herd, and was conversing
with the old rancher. He was explaining the operation to me.

One of his crew was counting as they loaded, cause they would
only put so many in each car.

I said that don't look very easy. The rancher said "sure it is. All
you have to do is count the hooves and divide by 4".
 
Well, the only roping I ever did was in Philmont Scout camp years ago. And my only chance at cow wrangling (kind off) happened last summer while driving on the Indiana Turnpike. Driving down the highway and here is a cow trotting along on the shoulder of the road. I quickly pulled onto the shoulder as the cow started to head across the highway, blocking the cow and keeping her on the shoulder. Ended up driving back and forth blocking the cow for about 20 minutes until a State Trooper pulled up and we both worked at keeping the cow off the highway. Finally, with some highway workers and a local rancher, we found the hole in the fence and got the cow back through it. So I didn't punch it or rope it but it took the boredom out of a long drive. I've thought a couple of times after this about keeping a rope in the trunk just in case.
 
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great story, dave n ig.
if you're gonna keep pumping out your own stories, i guess i won't get rich stealing them.
 
Suzieqz,
I think Dave and me done about as good as it gits on that one. It was a long cold winter and we needed sumthin' to do. We done that one over e-mail over some weeks.. Dave would add a few lines and I would respond with a few of my own. Purty soon we had us a long winded saga and ever bit of it the truth. ;):rolleyes:

We've both got enuff on our plates to keep us busy these days..

This retirement thing keeps a feller busier than a puppy in a room full of new rubber balls.;)
 
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Iggy,

That there tale you spun up brought back a few dusty memories of some misspent times. I took a hanker'n to the way y'all wove two old pieces of rodeo trash (an endearing term once heard exchanged between two PRCA members in an unnamed bar during the finals in Vegas many years ago) into having also been former pistol tramps (another endearing term once used to describe a LE officer that changed departments at least twice in his/her career). Great story and thanks for sharing. Kindest regards, hardcase60
 
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