The steers made their grand exit on Friday morning. For the ranchers it was not exciting, it was simply another day moving cattle. But for this farm girl it was quite an event.
The boys wanted to be around for this but an all-school field trip got in the way, so I was assigned to take lots of pictures.
I was fascinated with the process, the tactics, the behavior of the steers and the ranchers.
The ranchers, Vern and Grant, were in charge. The guys gathered about half of the steers in the free stall barn, then they worked one small group after another down the alley toward the truck. It sounds simple, but the steers don't understand English and they're super-strong. Vern and Grant were patient and it seemed to be a dance between the steers and the cattlemen. I hid as well as I could to keep from distracting/scaring the steers.
Ben was on the far end of the alley, keeping an eye on the gates, making sure the cattle didn't get so excited that they busted through it. Did I mention how strong the steers are?
The chute that my uncle made got put to good use. The wood had been so clean, the bolts shiny...it only took one steer to change that! I heard the truckers and ranchers say more than once how nice the chute was. Suddenly it was making sense to me why such heavy-duty materials were used to create the chute!
I had never considered how loud it is when steers tromp through a truck. All these things added up to make me very anxious. While I was hiding, my heart was racing!
Even Grant had to try and blend into the wall to keep from distracting the steers.
And then....after a while...they were all loaded and headed....
off to greener pastures (literally).
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