Most of the herding and moving we do on horseback. Unless we are moving the bison, then we use the atvs. Cattle are pretty dumb and stick together. We usually have the truck and horse trailer pushing, and horsemen on the sides. Most everyone that works there knows how to ride so we have a bunch of people moving little groups of 200 cattle or so. It makes for a nice relaxed ride through the hills if you ask me. As far as exploring, absolutely. Im an avid mountain biker so I go all over the place riding deer trails. Then me and this old guy (the quintessintial american cowboy) go out riding off the trail alot. And last summer me and my roomate built an old jeep into an offroader so we take that up sometimes. When you herd sheep are you on horseback, or the image that is in my mind of a guy walking with a hooked staff? Hey, reading for the story is fine. As far as analyzing goes, you have to pick it apart piece by piece. Don't look at the story as a whole, rather smaller parts of it. Poetry for me came when I couldnt repress all these damn thoughts swimming around in my head. So I wrote them down. As far as not eating meat goes, I have no problem if others dont, as long as they don't tell me all the reasons that I shouldnt.
Also, I'm the wrong person to decide if someone is talented or not But I am sure you are!
OR a desk mounted on a horse (with no discomfit added for the horse of course)!?! Ok is that just getting silly? I've actually pretty much stopped eating meat Because I'm so unused to it, it tastes strange and even if the flavour is hidden I think too much about where it came from. It's all in my head and stupid, but I can't help it. So you just use motorbikes? Dogs do make life easier when working. With my two, you can draft by yourself and just have the dogs push up the sheep from behind. I suppose cattle are a bit different to sheep though. Do you get much time to go out exploring and such by yourself? Or is it like most farmers - work work work? Poetry aye? I have never really read much poetry. To tell you the truth it usually goes over my head and I can't work out what it is about. Actually even with prose I sometimes miss the point. I am so used to reading for pleasure and enjoying the story that the meaning behind it is quite lost on me. I'm trying to rectify that, but I'm still a bit naughty. I sometimes even tell myself, maybe the author didn't put all these meanings into it and they just wanted to tell a good yarn? I know it's a daft thought, but sometimes it makes me feel less ignorant. How did you get into writing poetry?
Yeah its alot harder to send an animal off to the slaughter house when you raise them yourself. Ive learned to eat what I kill. Nothing makes me respect life more than slaughtering an animal and using the meat to feed myself. That sounds like fun though, rearing lambs and such. I have a miniture austrailian shepard. We have never used dogs on the ranch so he stays home but I wish I could teach him to work. Yes 25000 is pretty big but I love every inch of it. I am a poet of sorts. There are a few poems in my blog and about the poetry thread. But I dont think I am that talented. Let me know if you find such a desk somewhere...
Oh dear, people can be so silly. We recently had a problem similar to that, one of the previous generations let the shire use a bit the farm for something (can't remember what). After it had stopped being used the neighbours fenced it off as being their own. Nothing really came of it because it isn't arable land and nobody bothered to do anything about it. Too much hassle. WOW 25000 acres is big! I suppose that's why so many people work there. I had wondered about that, I thought maybe beef was really expensive over in the US of A I can imagine it would get crowded still. I treat my horses like big dogs instead I will have to put them to use soon. I have 11 pet sheep, I hand rear the orphaned lambs and can't bear to put them back out in the paddock because I know their fate. So they live in a yard by my house. I'm terrible like that. That's why at last count I had 22 pets. The only ones that earn their keep are my two border collies, who are working dogs. I could maybe work at a desk if it was out in the bush or something So do you do much writing? Or do you just love to read?
There are a couple of dissagreements yeah. The biggest one we had wasnt over water, but land. These two neighbors that live agacent to the ranch are both trying to buy a little 40 acre space, and are both accusing the other of moving around survey stakes. Stupid crap. The ranch itself is about 25000 acres. It is split by a highway, 20000 on one side and 5000 on the other. Which I love because I live on the 5000 side where no one else does, so basically I have 5000 acres to myself (except the summer when the house has 8 people in it). The other side has like 15 houses, which is too crowded for me. I envy you for having two horses, but its a shame dont ride much. Horses are extremely expensive. Your job sounds like alot of fun, personally, I would rather shoot myself in the foot than work at a desk all day. But I'm not sure I would like sheep as pets. My doggie is enough for me.
Hah! One question!!! It feels wrong...
Yes.. Erm my mind either runs at one million miles per hour or zilch. Sorry about that it probably sounds like an interrogation Maybe I should consider a career change? Either that or I can limit my questions to one per hundred words It's nice that all of you can work together like that, I don't know if I've heard of many situations where people do... I'm sure there must be disagreements every so often though. How many acres is the ranch? It made me laugh when I first moved to the farm. The cattle yards have big pine poles in them to duck behind if the cattle charge. And even if they are more afraid of us they are still scary! I have three horses, but I don't ride very often. I didn't ride for a long time and I kind of lost my confidence. I will have to deal with that at some stage, maybe go do lessons again just to feel comfortable again. I'd love to be able to shift livestock on a horse instead of in the ute or on an ATV (although I don't ride motorbikes anymore after an accident I had - but that's another story) and just ride through some of the amazing bushland we have surrounding us! Horses are rather expensive though, aren't they? Plus they are super naughty Yes, it is a lot of fun messing around with tourists. A lot of my day is chatting to tourists and showing off the koalas, the rest of the time is feeding and cleaning. I love working outdoors, so much better than a desk job. We produce barley, oats and lupins. Oh and hay as well. We've just leased out four of the five thousand acres for two years so everyone can have a break. Things will be done on a smaller scale for the time being. I have pet sheep and they are too funny, not that clever but cute. One of them is huge and when it comes time to shear him, he is too heavy to lift onto the back of the ute, instead he rides in the cab on the passenger seat. It gets a lot of odd looks. Oh and why thank you!
You certainly ask questions in large groups. Yeah, if it wernt for managing ponds, I would have no problem with beavers. Well the irrigation is for lots of stuff, the ponds, the hay, and stuff like that. The two main ditches are mostly for watering holes for the livestock. Plus it supplies many local ranches down the line. So we have to keep it running at the right flow. Its really a team effort of all the property owners they run through. If one uses too much, the next down the line is screwed, and if someone restricts the flow too much, it can flood and wash out banks up higher which screws over everyone. Its alot more complicated than many people think. (think of a river valley, now try to imagine water running parrallel to the river, but up higher about 2000 vertical feet. If that makes sense) This ranch isnt my families, I am an employee. It is owned by a guy that plays the stock market and is one of the richest men in america, but he and his family are rarely there. Its run by a manager and the full time staff is about 10. Seasonal staff (for the summer, including hay season) is upwards of 40, not including the chefs and whoever else travels around with the family. His name is Paul Jones if your interested. He owns places all over and I think he has land in New Zealand or Austrailia. It was hard to get used to bison. Cattle are big but they're basically like wild animals. They're more scared of you than you of them and they rarely charge unless its a bull in heat or you get between a mother and calf. Where as bison will charge you for no reason. The one that hit me was in a corral and I was going in to feed it. Out of nowhere it ran up and caught me right in the butt and flipped me over the fence. Which was about 8 feet tall. It scared me more than anything. Bison are amazingly powerful and fast. We actually cant herd them on horses because they can outrun a horse. We use atvs. Sadly, I dont own a horse because I cant afford one. I ride for pleasure and for work. Last summer I was on one whenever I got the chance. Man, that was long. Do you ride? Your job sounds like alot of fun and I imagine you get quite a kick messing with the tourists. So what does your job entail? Feeding and cleaning pens and such? And thats cool that you live on a farm/ranch. What kind of crops do you produce? Oh, as far as cattle go, they are really dumb. They are like big dogs basiclly and are much more afraid of you than you of them as I said above. Ive never worked with sheep but its something Im sure Ill do someday. ps: I dont know if I said this officially but... Welcome to the forum!
Ha ha ha it's funny, people that don't have to put up with wildlife like them, yet to farmers they are a pest. We have problems over here with kangaroos and emus eating our crops. I still like them though At work, when I tell tourists that kangaroos are pests and people shoot them they're like "NO! How could they!?" What exactly is all your irrigation for? I look after a whole heap of animals: Dingos, koalas, kangaroos, emus, bobtails, cockatoos, wallabies, eagles, owls, kookaburras, tawny frogmouths... I think thats all. Plus I live on a sheep, cattle and crop farm, so I help out with that occassionally. Cattle are scary, the way that they all stare at you is quite intimidating. I'm not sure I'd like to meet any bison after your little story. The worst I've had is a sheep ramming me and that hurt like buggery. And yes, 1000 acres of hay would be quite a task. How many people work on the ranch? Is it your family's? Or are you an employee? So I saw on your profile that you are a horsey person too. Do you just ride for pleasure? What sort of horse do you have?
