10/06/06 One cow; new trail

One Cow-New Trail Sometimes an unwanted job can turn into an opportunity. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you what I mean. When a neighbor called and said his friend had seen a cow and calf by the county road where there weren't any other cows, I figured we had an escapee, but I was hoping we didn't. The neighbor said the cow wasn't bothering anything there and he thought his cattle were all accounted for since they had just checked their pastures. That evening my nephew, Mom, and I drove over to the area and Nephew Clint spotted the cow right away. As Baxter Black says "the greatest feeling in the world is finding cattle on the county road and they haven't got your brand on them." Well, this cow wasn't on the county road yet, but she did have our brand on her. The next morning Nephew Kellen dropped my horse and me off in sight of the wayward cow and then took the trailer home. This is when an unwanted job turned into an opportunity. When the cow saw I was horseback and meant business she headed homeshe knew she was in the wrong place but just couldn't resist the same brown grass on the other side of the fence. The best part for me was she headed straight home, which took her down a canyon I had never ridden into before. I had looked at it but never had a reason to ride through it. Old trails made years and years ago that I've never ridden always make me wonder about the people and the animals that have used them. I even found the little water seep I had heard was therejust enough water for a couple of deer and maybe a coyote or a sneaky cow and calf to use while on vacation. I'm Jeff Keane.