Monday, November 19, 2012

Bovine & Canine Update

Today was the day my dear cow Lariat and her calf Poblano traveled to their new home in Michigan.  The hauler dropped off the trailer last night, so we parked it inside the pasture gate and I put their evening hay and grain in the trailer to allow them to go inside and learn it wasn't scary. Nevertheless, this morning  they were pretty suspicious and were reluctant to go in despite encouraging words.
Oh, I am going to miss these two characters!  Finally, I had to put a halter on Lariat and I was able to lead her in with Cadence and Rog  herding from behind.
We closed them in the front half of the trailer. I spread straw on top of the rubber mats and added most of a bale of hay, sprinkled with grain.  It only took about ten minutes for them to decide the trailer wasn't such a bad place after all.
Poblano is too short to see out the high openings in the trailer, but  Lariat will be able to watch Minnesota and Wisconsin and Chicago go by on the way to Michigan. It is a ten hour drive to their new home, so they should be arriving in a couple hours.
It was sad to see them go, but they will be totally loved and pampered in their new home. Poblano will be the project of a 12-year-old  4-Her, so he  will learn some new tricks! Lariat may get to become a milk cow someday - a job I think she will relish. She likes to feel important.
It has been an emotional time for me, with the cows being sold and Lindy, our sweet steer being harvested last week.  Zinnia (Zinny), the new puppy, has been invaluable filling the void, drying my tears and making us laugh with her goofy antics.
She is very smart, picking up quickly on potty-training and the other rules of the farm (don't chase the cats, don't chase the chickens, don't eat the cat food, don't eat the big dogs' food, don't eat the rugs, don't eat the shoes...) All except that rule about staying off the furniture.

2 comments:

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katiegirl said...

Aw, I'm sure you'll miss Lariat and Poblano, but it sounds like they're going to a great home! So glad Zinny is there to help with the cattle being gone. Puppies are great for that!