A Muddy Day At The Corral

It was Spring, only it was miserably wet and cold, the corrals where a mucky mess and they only got worse as the day got longer. We were tired and the cows were getting very miserable and did not want to cooperate.

When we worked in the corrals doing cattle we each had our job to do, that we were to do during that day like it or not. Mom was the secretary, as we needled the cows, read their tag number, screamed out the number above the bawl of the herd.. and then Mom, believing that she heard us right would then write it down in a record book .

The place where she sat, was always nice and dry, but not always warm. In the little barn we had set up right close to the head chute where we would catch the cows so that we could do work on them. In the end of the barn was a window with a lid, which could be flipped up for such a time as this.
Chucks job was to read the tag numbers, take off the horns, put the tag in if the animal didn't have one or had lost it, and do all of the heads up stuff.

My job was pushing the critters up the shut and playing around twisting tails and causing a distractions while Chuck done his thing at the other end. You might say I got the tail end of the deal. Many times I got my feet stepped on and sprayed with water mixed with a lot of other brown looking stuff. (POOOOOp) One time in the spring I remember getting the brownish green stuff directly from the source. I had ran up behind her and kicked her in the bottom, I should of known better, that sure did get her going. If you know what I mean? Well she got going alright. With a long juicy squirt of poop right down the front of my unsnapped western shirt. You got it, it ran right down my bare belly, and you can imagine where else Yuk!!


The girls and Bubby would make sure the chutes were kept full. They were younger and always done what they could to help out. They were not very old, but even at their young age they could put in a pretty good day.



Dad always gave a hand where ever he was needed. Those years he was fighting cancer and it was tough on him and he couldn't do as much as he once had, but he was always there for us. He was our guide and teacher, he made sure we were taught so that we would know how to work so we could look after ourselves when he was gone. He never stopped pulling his load of the work and always joined in with our fits of laughter when ever they happened to start.


Well, like I had said earlier, things were getting pretty muddy around the old corral, and the old cows were getting tired of being pushed around. So things were getting a little tense. As Chuck let another old cow out, I pushed an old black Angus brute up the chute to the head squeeze, and with a rattle and a shake of the head gate, a clatter and a bang she was caught. “There you old cure”, I said, “that’s as far as you go for now.” As I gave her another big kick just for good measure.

Now it was Chucks turn, he could start his doctoring the old gal. But she would have none of it, she through her head this away, she through her head that away, she through her head up, she through her head down. But as I said, she was going no where special at the time. A couple of times she and my brother almost met heads, and once or twice she almost throw him off his feet.


Now back in those days Chuck had a bit of a temper as did I, so watch out anybody or anything that was close by because there would be fur flying if you no what I’m a get-en at if anything got in our way. I was right there a watching close being yanked back and forth as I tried my distraction tactics, on the tail- end. I held onto that old poopy tail for dear life just a twisting and a shouting, not sure I was doing any good though. But what next? The old girl wend down on her knees and started to pray, and my brother by this time was every thing but......... Praying-that is.


I need to stop and let you know that the owner of the cattle we were doctoring was helping out as well, and watching all of the commotion. As this hole episode unfolded his eyes got bigger and bigger with anticipation as to what would happen next.


All of a sudden Chuck lost it and with a big swing of his foot and a scream that would of curdled milk, he kicked the old bag (cow) right squarely in the side of the head. As his big boot met her face a large piece of mud mixed with all of that poop and what have you, fleeewwwwww off of the toe of his boot and went spiraling to wards that open barn window where our mother was setting keeping books.
Just as the mud was passing through the open window, mother opened her mouth to yell something to Chuck, but you know what none of us are sure to this day what it was she was going to say. Because it was about that time that the spiraling clump of mud and all of it’s added ingredient entered mothers mouth . Well you have never seen anything so funny in all of you live long days. There was a spitting and a sputtering going on like you have never seen before. While she was spitting and sputtering, the rest of us got into one of those laughing spells, that is all of us, but the owner of the cow. He was as serious faces as can be, for a long time but when he seen no one else had stopped laughing, he to caught the bug and we all had another belly jiggling laugh. Including mom, she laughed too once she got the mud spit out all over the little barn walls. Let me tell you, that was one year we didn’t have to chink any cracks in that barn.


But the owner could not believe that mom wasn’t mad, and there was no cursing or swearing going on at all, just a lot of laughing. He said, “ I have never seen such a family as this before. In most families this would have caused a big fight. But not you guys, you just laugh. Well none of us likely thought at the time as to why that was, but I know now it was because we loved each other and Jesus God’s own Son was very present in our home. So I know it was God who should have gotten the glory that day. It was because of the love of Jesus, that is why we are like we are.


I know it was almost dark when we finished that day and as we sat around in the little line shack that evening eating supper, the talk would very often go back to the not mud in the eye episode but to the mud in the mouth and we would all burst out laughing again.


We as a family had fun at what ever we done, whether it was work or play, mind you there wasn’t much play so we just played while we worked. It was a lot of fun. There are many a story I could tell that relates to the corral at the Neeley Lake Co-operative pasture. Maybe as this book goes on you may just hear a few more.