Cow chase crew – As Far As The Eye Can See

The Bar MW Herd is all home thanks to the endurance and teamwork of our crew. What a relief. It’s Tuesday now and we are sure glad that in the whiteout blizzard conditions yesterday and deep windchill of last night we could picture our cows where they have winter type shelter options. They are sure hardy creatures.

Right now Bingo, Maddie and I are hanging loose in the truck while Russ loads bales onto the flat deck. He drove the tractor over and I the truck. What do you think? Should we eat our picnic lunch out there or stay in the truck?🥶

I am not sure if you readers are getting bored of somewhat similiar scenery from blog to blog if you catch each one, but for us who live these days, each chase has its own color and a memory that goes with it. As you will see from the following pictures, the color of this “Sun”day chase was gloom. However, the theme was youthful energy, our crew was 3/4 teenagers on this day. They endured and smiled at the end of it all. Maybe partly because it was finally done! The gloomy conditions arose from getting little sun and more wind developing than we were expecting, most of the crew stayed warm or almost warm, but the feet, cold feet were a problem, even with the help of hotpocket type boot warmers.

Our job on Sunday was to bring the herd that had been summering in the Souris River Valley home to the ranch. This meant about 12 miles of trail heading north east. The pictures I have here are ones that Russ, Sharon, Teanna and Patrick took. I love getting a broader perspective and thank them for their contributions.

The first thing to share is a video Russ took. The distant perspective at the start allows you to see the cowboys moving swiftly up the herd. Close up you see the snow falling.

Teanna and Dani in the early part of gathering the cows from the pasture.

I think you could say these cows are ready to hit the road.

This next video shows moments of getting out the pasture gate and onto the road. Russ couldn’t get over how dark it was at this point. The sun had already been up for 1.5 hours.

Once on the road the trail work is a bit more predictable and the shenanigans start. That is Jen in the center, Rhett and Dani at her sides. Jen has a knack for connecting with people and especially teenagers. Its cool to see.

A new rider on the trail this year, a brave one to join us for this frosty ride, this is Charity.

Mercy! Teanna this is impressive balance!

There was no lunch break on this chase, Vicki made coffee that we sent out with the crew at daybreak. Sharon brought homemade muffins. At the right spot they stopped for a coffee break. Things got goofy it seems, with no sick calves to rope this day Morgan practiced on Teanna and Emerson. Beyond that I really can’t explain this picture.

In very good time the cows were at the gate. Here they are, heading into their home pasture. I said we had 10″ of snow last week. It doesn’t look like it here….I don’t know.

This is a momentous picture. All the cows are tucked in for the winter. Here is the boss cowboy (Russ) and Morgan, whom he shares so much of the burden of ranching with. We all benefit from their shared energy, their skills and their humor.

A screenshot of the texts I got from Patrick. A feeling of satisfaction comes through, don’t you think?

Back at the house we were tossing salad at about 2:10, grace by 2:13pm. Great timing! By this point Vicki had helped move trucks, washed every dish I could dirty, helped me form buns, and prepped the salad, in addition to the 6am pots of coffee and hot chocolate she sent out. She also initiated some great conversation, for instance she asked me “what has surprised you most about each of your kids?” That’s Sharon in the background.

At church in the morning Carol Vanstone hosted a delicious coffee time and sent me home with leftover cream puffs and cupcakes. They were very much enjoyed. Sharon and Russ are pictured here.

Russell took alot of delight in calling Lynn “the ambassador of Switzerland 🇨🇭 .” She was great company! Here she is trying her first ever homemade butter tart, a staple Canadian dessert. Thumbs up!

On Monday Russ was part of a conversation on Facebook that had him singing my praises. Returning to the overall theme of our blog, “I see you, you see me,” I screenshot his comment when I saw it because I felt very seen. It’s pretty great when people sing your praises when they don’t have to, just want to, and you get the message that they saw you sweating and it meant something. Our crew has been great about saying thank you.

Well that marks the end of the Bar MW 2023 chase season. We have more work with the cows in the next month and then things settle down a little bit. I am currently working on a blog that explores why we do this fall work like we do, knowing that others look at us and think we’re kindv’e crazy. I have really been enjoying working on this upcoming post. There is a reason for all this!

Its hard to know how to write about the day we have had. Two problems exist. I only have about 10 minutes to write and there is too much to put into words even if I had an hour.

Good weather this weekend meant a big change in plans for Russell. He says he woke up yesterday with a thought ringing through his mind…..”we need to Ivomec the bulls today.” We were able to access Ivomec at the last minute and the plan expanded, despite having a big party at our house tonight and hopes to get to Church, we put sixty cow calf pairs through the chute today as well as 60 bred heifers. We had the party, we didn’t get to church. The work with the cows went really really well. Russ wants to give credit to a welder who has helped us to adjust our working chute so that calves move through without turning around. This makes everything safer. Thanks Joe! I think Russ is really grateful that we were able to get the Ivomec applied and shots of Vitamin A&D in these groups while the weather was good. Meanwhile ….. with Morg and Jill at the chute with Russ I boogied to get final tidying done and meal prep underway. We were expecting 42 people for supper but some last minute changes meant we were about 33.

I spent alot of the day pondering what I might say during speech time. Thats a tradition we have. We always have a speech and grace before we eat. Its usually a time to say thanks and reflect on the day a bit. Tonight we got to say thanks and reflect on the whole season just a bit. As I pondered I became aware that the way things unfold around here has given Russ and I chances to explore and discover skills we hold. The fact that all these people come together has given us the chance to test and prove ourselves as crew boss and mealtime mastermind. It is cool to get to discover and then expands on things about yourself that you didn’t know were there.

It was a special night for us. It was great to be surrounded by alot of our awesome crew, some of our people couldn’t make it and we missed them. We had crew gifts to share and people seemed to like them. For me there was quite a powerful sense of being held up, I mean, being seen and being supported. One of our crew offered to come early to help. Her hands were busy, as were here daughters and then other friends that came along. I felt a little scatter brained, but I had my list and I had these helping hands and it all got done. Another friend had a speech too, and gifts for Russ and I. Several brought hostess gifts and food to contribute. My sister in law heard what we were up to and sent out a new specialty of hers, beatniks. They were delicious. I have to say, it feels sacred to be seen and then to be supported. I am really touched.

It was a big day. Here are a few pictures.