'Til The Cows Come Home

... Or you have to go out, find them and make them come home.

In November 2008 there was a large fire in Southern California. I believe it was dubbed the Yorba Fire. This fire burned very close to our home and much closer to our horses' home. In fact, it burned in our horses' home. After devouring the State Park that we sometimes ride in, the fire ate its way through our fences and petered out while burning our heavily grazed cow pastures. No structures or animals were damaged, injured, etc. but all the cows got out and it took several months to get all the fences rebuilt. Once they were repaired (or so we thought) it was time for a Cattle Drive!

After gearing up, we headed out. There were five of us total, plus one of the dogs. Armed with our radios we split into two groups with a kinda-sorta idea of where the cattle were. It was a beautiful day!

Look! We spot cattle, but only about 1/3 of the known missing.

We tried to contact the other group, but our radios failed miserably so Cowboy H ran up a big hill to see if he could get a visual. After that failed, the third member of our group headed off to find the other group while Cowboy H and I headed down a gully to see if we could find the rest of the herd.

It was rough riding for a bit (Bella went nearly belly-deep in a mud hole; Maria slammed us into a tree) but Cowboy H and I managed to get the whole herd moving in the right direction.

Eventually, the others found us and flanked the herd to keep them from turning and running back down the hill.

For a while there, we pushed the cows easily. They calmly followed the cow trail up the hill and towards the open gate to Heaven's Ranch. Once they got to the top of the hill though, they started to bunch up and a few broke the herd.

Those few eventually took the remaining stragglers down the hill along the fence-line, but on the wrong side of the fence-line. However, we didn't have to worry for long, because they made their own gate and let themselves in on their own accord.

So, even though it wasn't all according to our plan, all the cows made it back to Heaven's Ranch.

Lastly, we had to push them through the cow pasture and into the sorting pens so names could be taken.

And believe me, names were taken. Especially after that runaway stunt.