The great Thistle Hill cattle drive….

….well, maybe not quite.  But at this time every year we do bring the main herd in to work the calves.  Nothing dramatic like roping and branding.  We do carry some in a trailer to the vet…a more efficient use of time…for de-horning or castrating.

But it’s all done without horses and any fuss.  You can see Wooz standing by the gate of the pen….she simply calls “whoo whoo” or something like that…and they eventually wander in.  I’m standing inside the pen so they understand where they’re going.  They need to turn in to me and not go straight toward the camera and another pasture.

 Of course, not everyone gets the “whoo whoo”.  This young bull has always had a mind of his own.  He’s one of our new British calves and perhaps he’s being protective of his horns and other vital body parts.

But only his horns were at risk.  He stays intact, of course.  And we rounded him up with the Gator and a “shh shh” nudged him into the pen.  The photos are by Duane Ard.

As I said, not much drama.  Just the way we like it.  But if you’re in a mood for the real “wild west” here’s a video of west Texas complete with some wonderful pictures of the scenery and a roundup.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/22132017?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

Thanks to Gisela Volkert for the link.