Posted on May 15, 2009 - by Hubba

Big Dan; The Neighbor

The next day, one of the neighbors came to help Joe with the job we didn’t get done the day before, which turned out to be sorting all the bulls off and moving them to the bull pasture behind the house, and moving the cows to another pasture.

We didn’t start until afternoon, and once again Joe rode me.  I was starting to feel a little overused, but I got to meet George and Gus.  George was the neighbor who came over to help, and Gus was his horse.

I was saddled and tied to the fence when George pulled in.  He drove clear through the yard, around back somewhere, and I could hear the trailer gate swinging open and then slamming shut.  George rode around the house, over to where Joe was untying me.  “Howdy George, thanks for coming over to help.” Joe said.  “No problem Joe what’re we doin’?” George asked.  “Well, I gotta sort my bulls off and move them up here behind the house, and then I was thinking we’d just kick those cows through the gate to the Weller pasture.  Me and the kids started to do it yesterday, but we’re doing some, uh, horse acclimation, and I guess we ain’t done enough yet.”

Joe climbed on and we left the yard at a walk.  George seemed to put Joe at ease.  He was younger than Joe and quite a bit better dressed, with a nice black hat and a denim jacket, and he had a smile in his voice.  Gus was a stocky dapple grey horse.  It was obvious that he and George knew each other quite well.

“You got a new horse for the kids?” George asked.  “Yeah, this one.” Joe answered.  George looked sideways at me.  “Joe, in the whole county you couldn’t find a shorter horse for your kids to ride?  They’re gonna have to jump off the barn to get on him.”

Joe laughed out loud.  “Well, George, he’s too much horse in more ways than that, I’m afraid.  He’s a hell of a horse for me, but I didn’t need another horse.  But we’re gonna give him a few more weeks, and try and get him and Will to get along.  Will rode him yesterday, and nobody got hurt, but we didn’t get anything done.”

We had walked to the gate and Joe swung down and opened it.  “Well hell Joe,” George said “Will’s only gonna get older and bigger, so it should work out.”

Joe got back on, and they went over the plan, such as it was, before we took off.  The plan was fairly simple because the bulls weren’t too interested in the cows any more, and were in two bunches in the corner of the pasture.  When we put the two bunches together, they started bellowing and fighting, and three of the smaller ones trotted out into the lead.  We followed them along at a leisurely pace, and Joe and George talked about this and that until we had to run up and get the gate.

Joe and I went through the yard to open two more gates, which he probably could have opened before.  When we got back, the bulls were scattered out in the yard, playing hide and seek with George.  We got them away from the feeding pickup and through the yard, and they lined out and headed for the bull pasture.  “Damn bulls, they always gotta do something.” Joe muttered.  George just laughed.

We headed back out and started gathering cows.  This was a little harder, because there were more of them and they were a little slow, but we had them in a bunch soon enough, and trailed them to the far end of the pasture.  Joe and I loped around the herd and opened the gate to the Weller pasture, which I hadn’t been into yet.  We got them all through the gate and trailed them to a water tank before turning for home.

It was a beautiful afternoon as me and Gus walked back to the house.  Joe and George were talking about when they should wean, and how the cattle prices were.  George told Joe that his calves looked good, but Joe didn’t seem to think so.

We stopped at George’s trailer, and George got off.  “Well George, ya got time for a beer?” Joe asked.  “Sure do” George said “I’ll just throw Gus in the trailer.”  Joe rode around the house and tied me to the yard fence by the front gate.  George walked around the house and sat down in the front yard while Joe went in and grabbed a six pack of beer.  “Boy I sure like these big shade trees you got in your front yard Joe.  Ours ain’t big enough to do much good yet.” George said as opened a beer.

They were talking and drinking when Beth and the kids pulled up in the car.  Will and Joey came running in the front yard.  “Hey kids” George yelled “how are RC and Cola doing?”  Joey came running up and kicked at George.  “It’s not RC and Cola, it’s Doctor and Pepper!” he yelled.  “Joey, knock it off” Joe growled.  “Will put your stuff away and change your clothes and come back out here.  Hustle up!”

Beth came in the yard carrying Taryn.  “Thanks for coming over and helping George.  Joe was just about fit to be tied yesterday.  I got some milk and bread at the store Joe I hope you didn’t need anything else.”  “No” Joe said “that’ll do.”  “Why is that horse tied to the yard gate?”  Beth asked.  “Well me and George were having a beer, and I thought I’d throw Will’s saddle on and let him ride Dan some this afternoon.”  Beth stared hard at Joe and muttered something before going in the house.  Joe waited until the door was shut before he looked at George.  “That horse isn’t making many friends around here.”  George just laughed again.

Will came out of the house wearing his everyday clothes, and Joey was right behind him.  Joey immediately jumped on George and started wrestling him.  “Will- dang I was just getting comfortable- we’ll throw your saddle on Big Dan and you can ride him around some.  George, you need another beer?”  George nodded, and Joe told Joey to get more beer and meet them at the barn.

Joe, George and Will took me to the barn, where Joe unsaddled me while Will got his saddle.  While Joe put his saddle away, George helped Will get his on.  “Boy howdy, Pops bought you a tall horse, kid.”  Will grinned up at George.  “Do you like him George?” Will asked.  “Sure I do, but the question is, do you like him?” George said back.

Joe came out just as George and Will had the saddle on.  “Well, up you go, kid” Joe said, and heaved Will on.  Will gathered up the reins, turned me around and kicked me into a walk.

The presence of George, and the lack of a job, seemed to relax Will.  For a while Joe gave Will directions where to go, but eventually Joe and George went to visiting, and Will and I just ambled around the yard.  We trotted quite a bit, and once Will kicked me into a lope and rode out to the gate.  He got a little scared on the way back, but he did all right.

Joey and Barkhead, whose real name was Ghost, spent the afternoon chasing cats, but sometimes Joey would have to go get more beer.

Finally George said he had to go.  Joe thanked him for the help, and George went to his pickup.  The boys both yelled good-bye to George.

Will rode me over to the barn, and as Will and Joe were unsaddling me, we could hear George’s trailer rattle around the house and through the yard.

I hoped I would see a lot of George.  He made things a lot easier around here.