09/21/06 Runaway heifer

Runaway Heifer A few years ago a couple of my friends had a little bad luck with some newly purchased cattle. Then their luck really hit the ropes when they asked me for help. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with the story. When two of my friends called and said they had a runaway yearling heifer recaptured in a small pasture with a corral and wanted to know if I would help put her in a trailer, I said sure. Thank goodness for telephones; they couldn't see how my stomach knotted up and that I had broken out in a cold sweat. I had been to this kind of party before. I got to the pasture and the heifer was there all right, but she had that "I-prefer-wide-open-spaces" look in her eyes. We eased the trailer into position, got the corral ready, and quietly started around the runaway. I only made one mistakeI took my rope. Now, I've said before, a rope can be a great asset to a fella, or it can get him into trouble in a heartbeat. You guessed itabout the third the heifer went past the corral gate I roped her. There's always a chance bad things can happen when I rope something horseback, but when I'm afoot those chances raise to about the 25th power. You should never rope anything bigger than a hamster when you're afoot. That heifer stole my rope from me and ran to the far pasture corner. I told my friendsjust ease around in front of her and I'll grab the rope and snub her to the corner post. We took two steps; she threw her head up and went through the fence into acres and acres of orchards. The only thing that got dallied on the post was my feeble plan. Well, I got the bugler to call the cavalry. Tomorrow, I'll tell you how that went. I'm Jeff Keane.