Fetching Pearl

Pearl coming to me - what a blessing! - and Ace, my Aussie puppy companion

It was nearing the end of daylight hours when I headed out with my two Australian Shepherds. Our objective was to fetch my new Fell Pony Pearl in for the night.  I had put her out on the hill with the rest of the ponies, but the day before when I had done the same thing, she had not stayed with them.  She had met me at the gate at the barn, and I had put her in.  This time, Pearl didn’t meet me at the gate, but when I found the main herd on the hill, Pearl was not with them either.  Apparently the mares still weren’t letting Pearl hang at the periphery of the herd.  I had hoped one of the mares had befriended her, but I was wrong.

It had been snowing lightly all day, so I thought I would be able to track Pearl to her location.  I was able to rule out one direction of travel, but in the other direction, the wild turkeys had been there before me and had scratched away pony tracks if there had been any.  As I contemplated where to look next, I saw in the distance some steers looking over the pasture fence, so I headed in their direction in case Pearl was the object of their gaze.

After walking the eighth of a mile west, I found that indeed the steers had correctly communicated to me Pearl’s whereabouts.  Across a ravine, the pony herd watched me closely from a distance as I approached Pearl.  I was thrilled when she came walking toward me, though I sighed a little dejectedly to see her tail and forelock sticking out at right angles due to Pearl discovering cockleburs during her day out.  That was a problem I could deal with later.  My more immediate concern was getting Pearl back to the barn without ‘help’ from the rest of the herd.  Especially since the path to the barn narrowed considerably along the fence at the top of the ravine.

After haltering her, Pearl and I began walking along the fence bordering the steer pasture then along the first paddock called the windbreak.  Bless my puppy Ace for his companionship, but he could sense that things were a little tense and he wanted to be right in front of me on the narrow path, essentially underfoot.  The steers from their side of the fence were fascinated and watched the three of us keenly.  And on the other side, the mares were watching from across the ravine.  I was pleased that Pearl remained calm about the steers since they were so close at hand and that she was accustomed to having Ace around her feet. 

The mares watching Pearl, Ace and I walking along the fence

Then my fears were realized when the mares started coming towards us, down into the ravine and then back up on our side at speed.  Pearl also saw this change and became more concerned.  I quickly assessed our options while I put myself between Pearl and the other ponies.  I didn’t have an extra lead rope to use to drive the other mares farther away, and they tried to crowd us whenever I didn't swing the end of Pearl’s lead at them.

I decided my best option was to go into the windbreak and take our chances with the steers who were following us on their side of the fence, rather than fend off five mares all the way back to the barn on a narrow path.  The first gate we came to required more work to operate than I could manage while holding off the herd.  The next gate not too far ahead I had used once before, so we headed for that, with me looking over my shoulder to make sure the mares didn’t get too close to Pearl and possibly push her into me.  And of course trying not to trip on Ace.  The good news was that Pearl, while very concerned, was willing to listen to me, stopping and starting when I did and letting me get around her to drive the herd back when I needed to, with neither of us stepping on Ace.

I got the gate open while occasionally pushing the mares back, but it didn’t open very far, so I had to convince a reluctant Pearl that going through the narrow opening was a better option than staying out with the mares.  Fortunately she finally agreed, and I got the gate shut behind us.  Whew!  Now I could assess our next obstacle.  Who needs games when real life can be this entertaining!

Tika pushing heifers a few weeks before, showing me she knew the job!

There were about two dozen steers at the top of the windbreak where the gate out to the road was.  At that moment I was very thankful that my neighbor Bruce had suggested that we test my dog Tika on a herd of heifers a few weeks back to check out her working instincts.  I learned that day that she was willing to push the herd from the rear and more importantly that she would stop when I told her she’d pushed enough.  So I told Tika to push, and she moved the steers away from us until I told her to stop, and we got to the gate and then out onto the road without any steers joining us.

I didn’t realize that getting to the road wasn’t the end of our obstacles.  There was one more test of Pearl’s and my relationship to come.  Pearl hadn’t ever been on the ranch road, and between the windbreak and the barn were several paddocks of bulls.  It turned out that they weren’t as much cause for concern as something else.  I let my guard down a little, only to have Pearl suddenly start trotting by me.  On the other side of the road were my neighbor Linda’s two horses who had apparently been watching the unfolding drama of fetching Pearl.  They had decided they should add to the game by galloping by us on their side of the fence.  And then in response the mares began galloping along the fence on the other side of the bulls.  I was once again pleased when Pearl came back down to a walk when I asked despite all the high equine energy around us.

Pearl has been here over two weeks already, but I hadn’t felt ready to put her on the hill until now.  I wanted to establish a relationship with her so that she knew what she could expect from me and I knew what I could expect from her.  For instance, Pearl needed to know that my approach is friendly, and I needed to know she wouldn’t run the other way when she saw me.  I needed to know that I could lead her without her running into me, and she needed to know that I could ask her to do things that seemed odd but ended up being worthwhile.  Those two weeks of bonding certainly proved their worth on our obstacle-filled walk back to the barn.  And ever since, Pearl has been even more interested in interacting with me.  She apparently finds this life entertaining, too!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

There are lots of stories like this one about my life with Fell Ponies in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Rose and the Wayward Bulls

These bulls were where they were supposed to be, when we got back to the barn!

I was out on our morning training ride with my Fell Pony mare Willowtrail Wild Rose.  We were on the ranch road, and we came upon Bruce loading hay into his processor.  “A gate got left open and some bulls got out,” he said, pointing at the road ahead.  “I thought you and Rose could put them back in.”  I replied that we’d try, with my brain doing an amazingly quick job of listing all that could go wrong.  But at least we could try!

Bruce advised that we should just approach them and get them moving, giving them room if they wanted to do something unhelpful but that once moving they’d probably go where we needed them to.  This was the total amount of information I had about moving bulls.  I had only ever moved bulls before on equines that knew their job, most recently on Mya the Wonder Pony, and that was fifteen years ago!  So Rose and I approached the bull on the road at a walk, and he just watched us.  The two in the borrow ditches on each side eyed us, too.  We kept approaching, and the bull kept watching, not making any sign of moving away.  Soon I heard Bruce come up behind us on foot to add some verbal emphasis with the authority of many decades of experience.  I had thought about swinging a rope but wasn’t sure what Rose would think of yet another new element on our ride.

Fortunately the bull decided to turn and head away, and his friends made the same decision.  Sure enough, as Rose and I followed behind, they moved up the road and through the gate we needed them to go through.  I dismounted, tied Rose, and shut the gate.

At that point Linda arrived and exclaimed, “You moved some bulls, Rose!”  (The picture here was taken several minutes later of bulls back at the barn, nicely where they were supposed to be.)  Rose gladly accepted Linda’s kudos, and I appreciated Linda’s next comment, that the bulls we’d moved were amongst the friendliest on the place.  Good!  Next time they’re out, I’ll try to increase my motivational contributions, with a more assertive voice and perhaps a swinging rope.  But I’ll practice the rope part with Rose between now and then!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

More stories about my life with ponies can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

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.