The Thermal Effect

Friday I went up to Malad, ID to move cows for a guy I know. I love to chase cows on my horse, it's loads of fun. However, when we were starting out that morning it was about 24 degrees. So I had on my thermal garment bottoms under my jeans, a couple of coats and shirts, my ski socks, and a hat with ear flaps. This was not extreme. I was still wishing that someone would invent heated leather saddles.

So after riding several hours in a saddle that didn't have short enough stirrups, my thermals (which I have never ridden in before) had caused some unexpected chaffing of my backside. It gave a whole new meaning to saddle sores. I also tore my pants on a barbed wire fence trying to keep a calf from going through. Thank goodness for boots so I didn't tear my leg as well.

The calf did eventually get through, and Sampson was very concerned about it and kept walking looking back at it making him trip several times. He's a lot like me sometimes and has difficulty focusing on the task at hand.

He's a great cow horse though. He may not bite the cows like some horses (which makes me laugh), but he does step on them to make them move. He was really excited when we first got out on the mountain so I let him chase some down faster than necessary just to let him blow off some energy. But once we had them all round up, he fell into a good pace.

Sampson's a bit of a head tosser. If you consider the fact that he's a pro heeler rope horse it makes sense that if you don't use a tie down you're bound to see the star on his forehead now and then. (They would use a tie down during competitions to help him keep his balance while pulling back against a roped cow.) (not my horse, Sampson is black) While it doesn't make me nervous that he's going to throw me, like it does others, it is annoying. So by the time we got to the corral and trailers and the sorting part of the day, I borrowed a tie down and it made a huge difference.

I'm pretty proud that I sorted a couple of bulls into the pen by myself. Other than bulls I wasn't really sure what they were sorting. I just love how smooth my horse is at high speeds, so it was a lot of fun. Of course I don't go at his top speed, because it scares me.

Thank you Cindy, for letting me stay at your house the night before so I didn't have to wake up any earlier. Also, thanks for driving so I didn't have to trailer all the way up there. Thank you Mom for watching Dylan, so I could have a much needed day to play.