Faster horses
Well-known member
I was looking for something and I ran across this piece I saved when
SD was hit so hard with winter storms. I thought it might apply now.
I think it was written by Baxter Black, but there is no name on the
piece.
I think it is very fitting to post it here now because of what our fellow ranchers in Colorado and their cattle are going through. Call it a tribute
to the intestineal fortitude of those in this business, if you may.
HELPLESS
"I do solomnly swear, as shepherd of the flock, to accept the responsibility
for the animals put in my care; to tend to their basic needs of food and
shelter; to minister to their ailments; to put their well-being before my
own; if need be; and to reduce their pain and suffering, up to and including the final bullet."
"I swear to treat them with respect; to always remember that we have
made them dependent on us and therefore have put their lives
in our hands."
HELPLESS
The worst winter in South Dakota memory. Cattle losses already
predicted up to 50,000 head. And how did they die? From exposure
and lack of feed. Basic needs--food and shelter.
Do you think the Dakota ranchers said, "Well, I'll just close
down the store and put on the answering machine. We'll just
wait til the storm blows on, no harm done."
No. They couldn't...wouldn't.
"Charles you can't go out there. The cows are clear over in the west
pasture. You can't even see the barn from here."
But he tried anyway. Tried to get the machinery runnin', tried to
clear a path, tried to load the hay, tried to find the road.
These are not people who live a pampered life. These are not people who are easily defeated. These are not people who quit trying.
But days and weeks on end of blizzards, blowing snow and fatal
wind chill took their toll. Cattle stranded on the open plains with no
cover, no protection, no feed, no place to go and no relief from the
arctic fury, died in singles and bunches and hundreds of thousand
frozen as hard as iron.
Back in the house sat the rancher and his family, stranded. Unable
to do what ever fiber in his body willed him to do. Knowing that
every hour that he could not tend to his cows dimiinished him in some
deep, permanent, undefinable way. Changing him forever.
The losses will eventually be tallied in numbers of head and extrapolated to dollars, but dollars were not kept him pacing the
floor at night, looking out the window every two minutes, walking out
in it 50 times a day, trying, trying, trying.
Exhaustion, bloodshot eyes, caffine jitters, depression, despair...
knowing if he only could get to them, he could save them.
Then finally, having to face the loss. His failure as shepherd. That's
what kept him trying.
It is hard to comfort a person who has had his spirit battered like that.
"It couldn't be helped. There was nothing you could do," is small consolation. So, all I can say to our fellow stockmen in the Dakotas is...
"IN OUR OWN WAY WE UNDERSTAND".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And to our fellow stockmen in the states that got hit so hard with this lastest storm: "In our own way, we understand."
SD was hit so hard with winter storms. I thought it might apply now.
I think it was written by Baxter Black, but there is no name on the
piece.
I think it is very fitting to post it here now because of what our fellow ranchers in Colorado and their cattle are going through. Call it a tribute
to the intestineal fortitude of those in this business, if you may.
HELPLESS
"I do solomnly swear, as shepherd of the flock, to accept the responsibility
for the animals put in my care; to tend to their basic needs of food and
shelter; to minister to their ailments; to put their well-being before my
own; if need be; and to reduce their pain and suffering, up to and including the final bullet."
"I swear to treat them with respect; to always remember that we have
made them dependent on us and therefore have put their lives
in our hands."
HELPLESS
The worst winter in South Dakota memory. Cattle losses already
predicted up to 50,000 head. And how did they die? From exposure
and lack of feed. Basic needs--food and shelter.
Do you think the Dakota ranchers said, "Well, I'll just close
down the store and put on the answering machine. We'll just
wait til the storm blows on, no harm done."
No. They couldn't...wouldn't.
"Charles you can't go out there. The cows are clear over in the west
pasture. You can't even see the barn from here."
But he tried anyway. Tried to get the machinery runnin', tried to
clear a path, tried to load the hay, tried to find the road.
These are not people who live a pampered life. These are not people who are easily defeated. These are not people who quit trying.
But days and weeks on end of blizzards, blowing snow and fatal
wind chill took their toll. Cattle stranded on the open plains with no
cover, no protection, no feed, no place to go and no relief from the
arctic fury, died in singles and bunches and hundreds of thousand
frozen as hard as iron.
Back in the house sat the rancher and his family, stranded. Unable
to do what ever fiber in his body willed him to do. Knowing that
every hour that he could not tend to his cows dimiinished him in some
deep, permanent, undefinable way. Changing him forever.
The losses will eventually be tallied in numbers of head and extrapolated to dollars, but dollars were not kept him pacing the
floor at night, looking out the window every two minutes, walking out
in it 50 times a day, trying, trying, trying.
Exhaustion, bloodshot eyes, caffine jitters, depression, despair...
knowing if he only could get to them, he could save them.
Then finally, having to face the loss. His failure as shepherd. That's
what kept him trying.
It is hard to comfort a person who has had his spirit battered like that.
"It couldn't be helped. There was nothing you could do," is small consolation. So, all I can say to our fellow stockmen in the Dakotas is...
"IN OUR OWN WAY WE UNDERSTAND".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And to our fellow stockmen in the states that got hit so hard with this lastest storm: "In our own way, we understand."
:wink:
