Cowboy Up!

I would have never considered myself to be a city girl, but I should have realized that having my secret wish to marry a cowboy come true would introduce me to a whole other world – and it has! There’s so much I don’t know how to do out in the country, but I am learning little by little. Take last month for an example. On Saturday, June 20th, we woke up at the crack of dawn with Papa Adams playing the trombone (to craftily ensure no one would back out) and were on the farm by 5 AM for the summer cow herd. Every year all 150 head of cattle must be herded up the mountains so they can roam the hills and pasture to their hearts content. Come October, they will all be gathered up again and brought back to the farm for the winter and spring. Our herding troupe consisted of 4 horses, 2 four wheelers, 2 cars, 12 people and 1 ten speed bicycle (I'm still not sure why Alan was riding that bicycle...it was hilarious!).

When the cows first came out of their corral I was a little scared of them, but Burke promised they were far more scared of us then we of them (he's also given me that same line about spiders and cockroaches, but I don't believe him one bit!). All it took was practicing a few times the "hei-up!" yell accompanied with big arm waves to get them moving and I felt like I could actually do some good! Here's a great picture of Chev (aka: Burke's younger brother Kevin) and his herding stance!

Helping us with the herd was a neighbor girl named Autumn. She had been placed on the Adams new paint horse and was having a hard time controlling him. Burke and I were riding on Cinco de Mayo and he was getting frustrated, thinking that she just didn't know how to handle the animal. About an hour into the ride my behind was super sore, so I dismounted in favor of the four wheeler and Burke took the opportunity to switch Autumn horses. I was just getting situated behind Kristan when suddenly I heard yelling and turned around to see Burke, one foot in the stirrups, hanging on for dear life as the paint horse bolted all over, heading straight for the pavement and shaking like crazy. I didn't realize it in the moment, but I was clutching Kristan's arm, both of us cussing over and over in our terror! It appeared to everyone that Burke was about to get thrown to the ground, incurring who knows how much damage. I felt so helpless and terrified that I was going to see my husband of two weeks thrown into a coma before my very eyes. Right as the horse made one last desperate jump, my cowboy suddenly threw his other leg up and over the animal and yanked the reigns tight, forcing the horse into a tight circle run until it calmed. Finally I realized I was gripping poor Krissy to death as she looked at me and said, "Who knew we were such potty mouths?" :) Minutes later the horse flipped out again, actually running pel-mel (sp?) into the back of Autumn on Cinco and that was the end of his ride. Alan had had enough watching his son riding that crazy horse and sent for a trailer, to which I was extremely grateful.

The rest of the ride was beautiful as we passed through Parowan into the canyon with vibrant red rocks covered in green foliage and summer wildflowers. The entire process took about 7 hours and we were all beat by the end of it. When we got home I made Burke cuddle with me, sweaty and dusty, just to convince myself he was really unharmed. I felt so grateful that he was still in one piece and I wasn't widowed at 14 days! Who knew a cowherd could be such an adventure!