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February 22nd 2010

Published: March 3rd 2010

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Recessionista

The Roundup

Last weekend was the annual roundup and branding at the Stockton family ranch near Bakersfield, Bill's family's spread. This is real cowboy country and I was pressed into service. Every boy's childhood fantasy come true, right? Uh, well, not really. Ali and I went down a day early and met up with Bill's brother Zack and two of his friends. Our task was to round up all the calves so when Bill and his son Ethan got down to the ranch branding and castrating could commence. How hard could it be? As it turned out, the hardest part was getting the horses saddled. Which was near to impossible. No one on the ranch seems to ride them with any frequency so they have had plenty of time to plot strategies of escape. There were four horses, Johnny, Big Boy, Dirk, and Cowboy. Johnny saddled rather easily so all we really needed was one more. Cowboy was a BLM rescued wild mustang who was having none of the proceedings. He could not be caught. That left big Boy, a thoroughbred former race horse and Dirk, the alpha of the group. Dirk, also known as "Dirk the Jerk" condescended to let himself be

Head 'em Up, Move 'em Out

saddled but, unbeknownst to Ali, had never had a bit in his mouth. She only learned that later when she asked Aunt Monica why Dirk found it necessary to throw her to the ground with a flick of his head. So, the last hope was Big Boy. Not to be. Big Boy was coaxed into the hay storage area for saddling and it looked like our trick might just work. Unfortunately, Uncle Pete, who clearly doesn't have enough entertainment in his life or love of flatlanders, chose that moment to open a back gate to the enclosure seemingly on purpose. Big Boy took off through the escape hatch and proceeded to join the cattle herd in the upper field. In the meantime, a fully geared Johnny decided to skidaddle away as well. Ali and Zack just looked bewildered saying, "this is what happens when you leave the enterprise to the babies of the family, both being youngest siblings. Fortunately, the one thing done right was leaving the field gate open. All but 5 of 130 cows/calves just walked through the gate during the course of the day by themselves. Brilliant strategy. The only other issue for the weekend was rain.

Any Major Dude

Zack on Johnny

In fact, it rained more over the weekend than Bill has ever seen in the area. Since the branding iron is electric and the calves were very wet, the decision was made to postpone the whole endeavor for a dry weekend. So, we went out to a Basque restaurant in Bakersfield, took naps and came home early. Ah, the life of a cowboy.

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