Details, Painted Nails and Deer Skulls

 Here are the details, painted nails and deer skulls I snapped while covering the country during the fall work run. Have a great weekend!

P.S. I am happily linking this post up with Fresh From the Farm's Farm Photo Friday : )

Lusk Ag Expo

Yesterday I was busy manning a station at the Lusk Ag Expo, where the local 3rd grade spent an entire day learning about agriculture. A variety of ag people from our community provided live animal demonstrations, or hosted stations where they taught the students about a specific ag-related topic.
Here are a few highlights from the day:

The kids got to meet "Uggs," a hound owned by a local game warden. Part of his job is predator control on area ranches.

Uggs's owner put on a demonstration where he drug a hide around the fairgrounds, then let his dogs loose to track the "raccoon." The students were able to sit in the grandstands and watch the dogs roam all over the hill you can see in the back of this photo as a they followed the trail to this tree, located right next to the grandstands. The dogs were very interesting to watch, and while they were tracking the owner was explaining various aspects of each dog's personality, and about tracking in general.

 From the hounds, the kids headed to a horse demonstration put on by a great friend of mine I've known since grade school. She is a very talented horse trainer, and brought in the gelding she showed all throughout her 4-H years. She demonstrated various trail activities, and explained how they were also skills desirable in a ranch horse - like being able to open and close a gate while mounted.

Then she answered a lot of questions while "Snipe" stood patiently by. At the end of her session each kid got to pet the horse, which was a highlight for many.

 Up next was my next door neighbor, who is a a renowned stock dog trainer with several sheep and cattle dog trial wins under his belt. He brought his nine year old Border Collie, Shawn, and demonstrated working sheep with a dog.

 He also took the time to explain various commands, then demonstrate them. He can speed up or slow down this dog at any time with a specific whistle command, and was literally having him take the sheep around him in a circle as a talked to the kids.

In between the outside demonstrations were stations where the kids learned about a specific topic. These included making lip balm with honey and beeswax and discussing the role of bees, learning about how wheat is grown and used to make bread, and my station, where we discussed what cows eat and how the rumen works. We also got into how the rumen enables cows to digest and get nutrients from grasses, hays and other feedstuffs that we as humans cannot digest, then convert those feeds into meat or milk, which humans can digest. Furthermore, we talked about what would happen if the rancher didn't feed his cows or make sure they had enough grass (they will starve, die, get sick....), and then what will happen to the rancher? (They will got out of business, have no meat to sell, lose their money, lose their ranch, and my personal favorite answer of the day - they will have no meat to sell and we will have no meat to eat)
I had a blast, and loved the small groups that enabled kids to ask questions, and me to really get the point across of how much ranchers care about their animals, and how important a healthy diet is for livestock, just like it is for kids. It was a great day, and I'm already tossing around ideas in my head for next year.

I thought I'd never see this

Below is something I didn't think I would ever witness in my lifetime.

Be forewarned that it was quite shocking to see for the first time...























My father and uncle using their cell phones while riding.

Sorry if you were expecting something else.

I was caught very off guard when my uncle asked if I had my cell phone on me a couple weeks ago when we were gathering and trailing cows. I did that particular day, but it was turned off and in the bottom of my camera bag. I asked why, and he replied that he would just call me when he wanted me to open a particular gate we were trailing some cows through. I was on a 4-wheeler due to my horse being injured, and thus assigned such jobs and zooming out in front of the bunch to open a gate or turn them.

He ended up having left his phone in the pickup, so my dad showed him how to use his, and I snapped the above photo during the lesson.

It worked well, and is a great example of how technology can be used to increase efficiency on a ranching operation. I know lots of people who have cell service, and use cell phones, on their operations, but this is the first location we've run cattle on that boasted cell service of any kind. While I doubt we will ever be the type of people who are on our phones all day while doing ranch work, it is a very handy service to have in certain situations.

However, I am still surprised any time I see these two men trailing cows and making phone calls, all at once.

Horses

This week the Pioneer Woman's photo contest is, "Horses."
Oh yeah, this I can do! Here are a few pictures I gathered up, and may enter. To go along with them are a few words of horse related wisdom I've been taught over the years.


Never ride a horse that's the honest excuse for not being able to get a job done.




Only grain them in the mornings, before the ride.





In today's world, there's no reason to have to deal with a horse that bucks. There are enough good ones that have had the buck bred out of them.




Miles make a good horse.




If your on him, he isn't eating.




Don't be afraid to lay into him when he does something wrong.




Give praise when it's deserved.




Practice if you expect to be good




If you're going to train on him, do it when he's tired and paying attention




If you like him and can get the job done, that's the most important thing