Welcome to the Ranch!

Living on a ranch is not for sissies.  This might not be politically correct, but it is true.  There are too many times when a person can get hurt.  We raise gentle cattle, but any bull separated from a cow in heat will become a force with which to be reckoned.  A cow separated from her calf will try anything to reunite with it.  These animals are not mean in nature, but their sheer size makes them a potential danger for people.

We were working our cattle several years ago.  My step-mom, Cathey, was working the back gate of a long chute that leads to the squeeze chute where we safely secure the animals for palpation, branding, or dehorning.  My dad thought it was the safest place to put Cathey.  She just had to open the gate before the cows were herded down the chute.  When all the cows entered the wide neck of the chute, she shut the gate.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, it was and safe, too, until our massive bull named Cactus Jack was herded into the chute.

He looked down the chute as it curves around the pen.  He lifted his head to look backwards at Cathey and the now closed gate.  Cactus Jack snorted and breathed deeply with his lips curling in the obvious sign that a cow somewhere was in heat.  Amazingly, bulls can smell if a cow is in heat as far away as five miles.  We suspect that this cow was in our herd and not on a nearby ranch.  Whatever the reason, Cactus Jack decided he was leaving the chute.  Surveying the solid wooden walls of the chute and the heavy metal gate, he determined that the gate was the most vulnerable to his attack.

Cactus Jack heaved his massive body against the gate trying to jump over it.  The thick heavy metal frame of the gate bent under his almost one ton weight.  The gate popped off its hinges and Cactus Jack ran back to the herd.  Then we saw Cathey pinned under the gate.  Everything happened so quickly that she did not have time to react.  She was completely stunned and Daddy sprung into action immediately out of fear.  Everyone thought her leg was broken at best.

Quickly and with surprising ease, Daddy lifted the gate off of his wife.  His adrenaline must have really been pumping!  He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the barn away from everyone else.  Cathey was amazingly quiet.  He stripped off her pants to look at her leg.  It had a deep cut, almost a hole, in her left thigh.  He rushed her to the nearest hospital, which is about 20 miles away.

When all was said and done, Cactus Jack did not break Cathey’s leg.  Somehow her bone remained intact.  However, her muscle was torn and the hole in her leg was draining fluid from the injury.  She could not walk for several days.  Daddy carried her around, up and down the stairs, and took really good care of her.  His face wore the solemn look of regret as he bore complete responsibility for the accident.

But it was an accident, plain and simple.  Nobody could have foreseen what was about to take place.  That is how it is when working around animals.  They are as unpredictable as people.  Her leg has completely healed, but the muscle has never looked the same.  She bears a deep indention on her thigh where the gate hit her.  It aches, but she bears it silently.  Cathey is one tough cowgirl!

I believe that everything in life offers us a chance to learn; therefore, we have learned not to stand anywhere near the closed gate of the chute.  Once you shut it, move out of the way.  This past week a cow was frantic when she heard her calf “moo” in a nearby pen.  She tried to clear a different gate in the same place.  Luckily nobody was there to be pinned under it like Cathey.  We can replace gates.  We can replace boards on fences, but we cannot replace one of our family members.

So now you know why when I hear Reba McEntire sing, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” I immediately think of Cathey Holliday.  I also think of my daughter, Kyla, and I will tell you her story soon.

To go directly to “Cowgirls Don’t Cry, Part Two,” click here.

Tags: bulls, Cowgirls Don't Cry, cows in heat, danger of ranching, Reba McEntire, working cows

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 8:14 am and is filed under Ranch Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.