Rose Moves a Calf

Rose looking at the calf she just moved back into its pasture (over the green fencing)

I would guess most photographers have a favorite picture they wish they’d taken but didn’t and it lives in their mind’s eye forever.  Mine is of my late husband standing with my first Fell Pony mare Sleddale Rose Beauty next to a fence, on the other side of which is a herd of Black Angus cattle.  Seeing Beauty who was jet black next to those jet black cattle was a striking image for me, especially since she didn’t seem bothered by their presence at all.

My first experience moving cattle with a pony was with Mya the Wonder Pony, all 11.2 hands of her!  Our first outing was moving cows and calves from one pasture to another for a neighbor.  The outing I remember most was moving a herd with a bull in it, and though he was bigger than she was, she faced him down and moved him!  She spoiled me in so many ways, being so willing to do anything for me, that I didn’t know that not all ponies are willing to work cattle.  My second pony taught me that, though, but I always assumed it was because he’d never been around cattle, so it was just a matter of getting him used to the idea, which I never did because my situation changed to one where cattle weren’t around.

Several years later, my leased summer pasture for the ponies was adjacent to hay fields.  The ranch we were on began putting cattle on those hay fields after haying was done.  I knew then that my mares and foals were accustomed to seeing cattle, so I assumed that they were not bothered by them.  I was wrong.

One of the mares that was pastured next to that hay field was Beauty’s daughter Willowtrail Wild Rose.  We now live on a cattle ranch, and I’ve been bringing Rose back into work after a few years off for breeding.  The first few rides here were short and exhilarating because she was so willing; they made me excited for what we could do together.  Then the rides lengthened just enough that we encountered some of the ranch’s cattle.  So began a long journey through refusals and gait changes and balkiness.  Exhilaration and excitement were distant memories as I struggled to understand how I could get Rose back to the willingness she’d shown those first few days.

Several weeks on and we are getting better every day.  Our route is down the ranch lane, which for a quarter mile is beside the calf pasture.  Rose has shown me that she’s more at ease when we ride after the calves have been fed so there aren’t dozens and dozens of pairs of eyes at the fence staring at us as we go by.  My schedule, though, usually has us riding before the calves are fed, so we’ve had plenty of opportunities for getting used to being looked at and for calves to be their occasionally rambunctious selves, to Rose’s consternation. 

At first I thought the cattle feeding machinery might be an issue for Rose – feed truck, hay processor – but Rose has since showed me she’s okay with them.   All those years around the equipment of our logging and construction company seemed to have helped there.  So I’ve realized it’s really the cattle that are what make her uptight.  Rose has let me know - by not bucking or spinning or rearing or crow-hopping, which I greatly appreciate - that she wants to take care of me but she doesn’t feel she can when cattle are close. 

One morning we began our ride, and as we neared the calf pasture, I noticed a calf out on the lane.  Then Linda and her feed truck approached, so I dismounted out of caution to let her go into the calf pasture.  Linda said we could push the calf down to the other gate.  I told her I wasn’t sure Rose would do it, and Linda went on her way.  I remounted and we continued down the lane.  The loose calf was quite a ways ahead of us but moving along the fence toward the other gate.  Then Bruce appeared with his big tractor and hay processor.  When he saw us and the calf, he turned his mighty machine around in tight quarters.  Rose and I now had an opportunity to do our first real job on the ranch, albeit a small one. 

We continued walking, and the calf continued to move along the fence toward the gate, which Linda had opened when she saw we were being successful.  Just before the gate, the calf stopped and I asked Rose to keep going.  To her credit, she did, and the calf turned and skipped around the corner into the pasture.  I was jubilant! 

We still have a lot more work to do.  After leaving the calf where it was supposed to be, we rode further down the ranch lane where it runs between two bull pastures.  Rose’s head swung back and forth, looking at one group of bulls and then the other, letting me know she knew they were there and she wasn’t too thrilled about it.  I kept her focused on the safe middle ground of the road ahead and she stayed with me and didn’t lose her mind.  On the way back, we managed more relaxed walking and trotting along the calf pasture than we have before.  I’m looking forward to our next ride.  And to our next opportunity to do another job for the ranch!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories about how I’ve put my ponies to use in my book The Partnered Pony, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.