Kicking UP Their Heels

My training buddy and I went out to Roy's for a lesson today. It was really cool. There was a ewe in the group that had been a bottle baby and it was its first time really being worked by a dog. It stamped at Rave and refused to move. Rave laid her ears back, streached her neck out and one slow step at a time advance on the reluctant ewe. The ewe thought better of it and turned and went with the experienced girls. Only to turn again and repeat the process several times. Rave stayed cool and did not 'bust'. We have been working hard on this and it was so fun to see it pay off in a 'real' situation. We where able to pen the sheep several times but it was not real smooth. I am not sure if this is because for these sheep the draw is so strong back uphill to the bed down area or if we are not quite getting the cover from the turn on the second panel right. It does seem to be getting better and my confidence is growing. Last year I didn't think I would be able to pen anything ever!

After my buddy and I stopped for lunch we returned to my home and worked the stock there. She and Colt worked on the sheep. They are coming along so nicely. Great to see this team grow! I decided to take my young steers out into the big field and see how that would go. I have been keeping them in about a 100 by 80 foot enclosure. WEll these steers are just babies after all and they kicked up their heels and ran bucking and um...farting. They had a grand time. Rave had to really run to cover them. They went down the gully, Rave brought them back, they galloped across the field, Rave headed them off. Finally they had had their fun and they settle down and we where able to get some parallel driving in. Guess I better start working these guys in the arena. I have been doing mostly walk up stuff with them in the small enclosure. These babies will be one of the groups in our trial. Won't the competitors be surprised to find the cattle lighter than the sheep!