There are some cows that just do
not want to do what you want them to. This is usually the case when we are
trying to corral the cows to move them from one location to another. Normally
this involves feeding hay in the corral where we want to catch the cows, a lot
of irritation, and depending on who is around at the time a lot of swearing.
This chapter was inspired by my experience trying to corral the Panguitch cows
that were in the field in Ivins.
Out of the twenty-seven cows that
were in Ivins there were three that, of course, were difficult. These three
cows evaded us on the first day when we took twenty of them to Arizona. After
hauling off the first two loads we tried to corral the remaining seven, these
three cows were having nothing to do with the corral. Dad and I threw some hay
out in the corral and then would walk away, the cows would go over by it, but
as soon as we tried to move over to pen them they would take off out into the
field leading all the rest of the cows out into the field with them. After
several attempts at this we changed our plan; we decided to leave them to eat
in the corral overnight and try to pen them the next day.
The next day I once again took
some hay into the corral and spread it out. Four of the cows went right in
while I was sweeping my truck out, the other three would not. I walked out into
the field and the other three went into the corral; however, as soon as I
started over to shut the gate they would take off out into the field. I tried
this several times with the same result. Now I had to figure out how to
outsmart the cows.
I had left my truck close to the
gate, this turned out to be a good thing. I finally decided to let the three
cows stand out in the field, (the other four did not care what I was doing,
they were busy gobbling up as much hay as they could) and I walked over to my
truck and got in. After a few minutes of sitting quietly in my truck the other
three cows came into the corral and started to eat. I was able to step out of
my truck and shut the gate before they realized what was going on. I had
outwitted my four legged friends.
Many times in life we have to
stop and out think the problem at hand. I find myself getting frustrated and
throwing my hands into the air when in reality all I have to do is stop and
think about what needs to be done. Too often I wait for someone else to solve
the problem for me. In the case with the cows, there was no one to solve my
dilemma for me and I knew that dad was counting on me to get the cows corralled
so that we could take them over the hill. I had to stop, I had to think about a
solution, and then I had to implement the solution. Doing this worked, I was
able to corral the ornery cows that did not want to go into the corral. There
have been many times throughout my life when this is all I had to do. Sometimes
I have, sometimes I have not. The lesson is stop, think and apply. Sometimes
the answer is too simple.
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