This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi,
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who emailed me privately with words of encouragement! We are back home now, a bit muscle weary and tired, but happy! For those of you who may not have read my previous post about 'our adventure', Dusty and I had been invited to southern Oregon to participate in a photo shoot during shipping on a HUGE (16,000 acres owned, another 21,000 leased) cattle ranch. The manager's wife had written an article about Fjords that she hopes to get published in Western Horseman. She had heard that Dusty had been trained in cutting and asked if she could get photos to submit with her article. I told her that I did not currently have any cows. She replied, 'Well, I do.' Thus began our 'great adventure'! I had also been asked earlier if I could provide digital video footage of Dusty cutting for the upcoming NFHR promotional tape. I did not have such. I only have VHS. AH HAH! An opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone! Dusty and I drove to southern Oregon on Sun. Shipping day was Monday. When we arrived, we were told that the day before, something had stampeded a herd of about 450 yearlings through fences, powder river panels, and they had scattered to the 4 corners of the earth! UH OH! The ranch hands had managed to round up most of them, but about 20 head were still unaccounted for. I was told that they (the yearlings) were still pretty 'edgy' so we needed to work quietly so as not to set them off again! When we began our 'photo shoot', I was given a small pen of the culled cattle to 'play' with. One black angus heifer had apparently been told by her mother that 'cows eat horses'! Oh, boy, was she a nasty individual! I was glad I was on top of Dusty and not standing on the ground. This poor heifer had a bad case of pink eye and was definitely on the HUNT. Several times she charged us, even when we were resting clear across the pen. I'd turn around only to see this creature with the 'evil eye' bearing down upon Dusty's behind as though she was EL TORO and Dusty's butt had a red cape draped around it! Truly glad she did not have horns! A bit disconcerting to say the least! As Dusty began 'playing' (this is ONE of his favorite pastimes), the fence was lined with all sorts of digital cameras as well as regular cameras for stills. I intend to write an article detailing our 'adventure' for the next Herald as soon as I get copies of photos, so you can watch for 'the rest of the story' in the winter issue. When we finished at the shipping pens, we did an interview for TV and newspaper. Haven't heard yet whether we made news or just ended up on the cutting room floor? TO BE CONTINUED. Gayle Ware Field of Dreams Eugene, OR www.fjordhorse.com
