May 12,2010

[Don McDowell]

Well it's either global warming at its finest or as someone put it mother nature is bipolar Here's the view off the front porch this morning.

Saturday morning it was 15 degrees when saddling up


to bring the calves in


for branding

[Terry Murbach]

IT IS THE SAME OVER HERE, DON, BUT ABOUT 20* WARMER THAN YOU. SNOWING TO BEAT THE BAND BUT MELTING ON THE STREETS AND ROADS SO FAR.

[Don McDowell]

Carol said when she dropped over into the valley on her way to work this morning there's nothing down there.
This sure ought to put a kybosh on the grasshoppers. but I don't suppose it did the blossoms on the fruit trees any good.

[bdhold]

in S. Texas, we're having some of the hottest, strongest southerlies I've ever seen.
CC had a 40-knot sustained wind the other afternoon.

[Don McDowell]

Well so far May just seems to be a redo of March.

[Blaine]

Fairly normal here....SnowPack is not good in the mtns....another dry summer.

[Don McDowell]

Was just watching the Casper news and it sounds like the east slope of the Wind Rivers picked up about 3 feet of snow that had about 5 inches of water in it.
Cheyenne has about 10 inches , looks like a mess down there.

[Gun Smith]

Are you branding or clipping? Looks like branding to me, except for the position of the calf.

[BigSky56]

Looks like youve gone high tech with the electric branding iron Don, they do cut down waiting for a iron to heat up. Looks like you had some good hands helping. danny

[Ysabel Kid]

Looks a tad... brisk!

[Don McDowell]

Danny those electric irons are the best thing to come around in a long long time. Always hot, no fire pit to get tangled up in, or roaring propane torch to get knocked out and burn the snot out of somebody. Yep got great family,friends and neighbors.

YK it was a bit on the brrr side.

[gary rice]

yep its global warming alright.

[Old Ironsights]

Carol said when she dropped over into the valley on her way to work this morning there's nothing down there.
This sure ought to put a kybosh on the grasshoppers. but I don't suppose it did the blossoms on the fruit trees any good.

It was a little slushy over at the Prison, but nothing interesting.

[Don McDowell]

Yeh that 800 + ft in elevation loss from here to there really makes a difference in the weahter.

[Old Time Hunter]

Danny those electric irons are the best thing to come around in a long long time. Always hot, no fire pit to get tangled up in, or roaring propane torch to get knocked out and burn the snot out of somebody. Yep got great family,friends and neighbors.

How long is the extension cord?

[Don McDowell]

25 ft.

[stew71]

Don...as a California boy...raised in the Sierra....snow on flat ground looks plain....wrong. That white stuff needs to be about 20 feet deep...on a slope....with a chair lift...and trees.....and my snowboard firmly attached to my feet.



But seriously....nice looking place you have there!!

[Don McDowell]

Thanks Stew it is a pretty piece of country. The neat part is it's off the beaten path more or less, so we don't usually have to put up with alot of lookyloos except for a couple weeks during hunting season.
Course its not zactly flat and the snow can sorta pile up once inawhile.

[ceb]

Don, how big is that horse? I don't think there's any way I could reach that stirrup.

[Don McDowell]

Ceb you mean that 14 year old greenbroke colt. Ol Bill the wonder horse? (wonder someone ain't used him fer bear bait)

I'm 6ft, so as you can see he's got the legs to cover some territory in a day.
I keep telling Carol that her mares offspring keeps on a growing and she mutters something about somebody gettin older and not as agile as they onct were. Wemmens and their smarts anyways.

[ceb]

Thats what I thought. I remember when I was a kid, I had a big ole Tennesee Walker mare. Best riding horse I was ever atop, but at 5' 8" it seemed my knee was at about shoulder level to step up. Now at 57 and with "uh hum" a few more pounds, I'd have to figure a way to carry a ladder with me.

[Don McDowell]

Yup seems like just a couple years ago a feller could almost step clear over a lil ol short horse like that and have to reach down to catch a stirrup.
I had to wait to start him under saddle til he was 3, cuz when he was 2 the only thing showing from under either end of the saddle was his ears and his tail. And I swear he's still growin cuz it gets to be a longer reach to the stirrups.
Of course the way they size levi's now doesn't help durn mutts have to buy a pair of 38 or 40's in 501's when a 32 and 34's used to be bout right. Must be the metric system.

[Wes]

No branding going on here this week Don. We had 5" of snow day before yesterday and about 10" more yesterday. It's going to be a sloppy wet *** for a while here. Had to 'wade' through snow and mud up over my knees in the corral to get my team to go feed cows. I cleaned part of the corrals but not all, what a mess .
I just used an electric iron for the first time this spring. They are nice. We just set up a generator outside the branding trap and ran it. Worked pretty darn good. Found that you have to put a little more pressure on them than my regular irons.
Got to say also that the older I get, the shorter my saddle horses get. In 10 years or so I'll be on a Shetland pony.

[Don McDowell]

Wes, those electric irons are nice aren't they? I found out that with this last set of calf irons if I just use 1 hand on the the handle to push with and just use the other to steady the barrel, the brands go on alot better, than if I'm pushing on the barrel.
Somebody asked me this winter why don't I give up the saddle horses and just get a 4 wheeler. I said when that happens, will be when the cows go to town and I either go fishin or they're using my to fertilize the cactus and prairie flowers.

[Wes]

Thanks for the tip Don. I only have one more little bunch to brand (20-25 late calves), so will try that.
I feel the same way on the 4 wheelers. Great for some of the irrigating when the fly's get too bad for the horses. Wouldn't be caught dead herding cows with one.
Funny story though. I was riding my 4 wheeler up closer to the Robertson highway and saw someone flagging me down. Got over there and it was a neighbor lady from the developement. Having a hard time getting her llama (alpaca?) herd off the road. So I helped her get them back in her 6 acre ranchette. Of course every smart aleck rancher I know came by and gave me a hard time. A couple even took pictures of this 'cowboy' herding llama's with a 4 wheeler. I may never live that down.
They all have driven through my cows for years (decades) with us behind them horseback but herd one pack of llama's with a 4 wheeler and you're branded for life!

[Don McDowell]

Well yah , but it was alpaca's so its cool.... didn't hurt nuthin.