Cowboy multitasking
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Julie Carter

Multitasking is a buzzword used to describe the art of doing several things simultaneously.

Cowboys are frequent multitaskers, especially when combining a little fun with their work.

Jess routinely worked at his brand of multitasking. This particular day, he was doctoring fresh yearlings and riding a green colt - always a recipe for a little excitement.

The big blue colt had kind eyes, a solid-built frame, long legs and a good heart. What he didn't have was any experience with cattle, a rope or a cowboy.

Jess was riding a brush pasture that bordered the Canadian River. The Panhandle has plenty of good grass under the mesquites and, in summer, the mesquite will yield a good crop of mesquite beans that pack the fat and sass on cattle and horses.

Once the yearlings were past the shipping fever stage, they'd be on the road to making a 300-pound gain. Money in the bank.

The colt, bought in early spring, would be a finished cow horse by first frost. That, too, would put a little more jingle in Jess' pockets. The plan was coming together.

Jess plow-reined the blue colt around mesquites and over downed cedars, teaching him how to place his feet. While the training was in progress, he watched for sick cattle lying out from the bunch.

The sick ones were roped easy and slow and then doctored. All the while, the colt was learning those skills under quiet hands. Jess got to feeling quite confident in his new horse about the same time he got tired of roping sick yearlings around the neck.

His thoughts wandered to the upcoming team roping in town and his need for practice roping horns.

Coincidentally, about that same time, a big, coming 3-year-old heifer showed up on his radar. She either had been missed on previous pasture gathers or had walked the river and taken up residence with the yearlings.

She had a nice spread of horns and would, to Jess' way of thinking, put the finishing touch on a good day for the colt.

Touching a spur to the colt, Jess built a loop, rode up on the heifer and roped her handily. He set the colt, stopped the heifer, dropped his rope down her right side, rode around her and let her front feet step over the loop and then pulled up the rope.

This was an easy way to put a half hitch on the back feet and lay her down. Jess rode the colt up to her, holding her back feet tight, reached down and took his rope off her horns. About that time, in rapid succession, the heifer came straight up, the colt went straight to the left, and Jess found himself standing on the ground with a heifer on the fight and a scared colt.

The heifer had never been roped and the colt had never seen a rope lying on the ground. The heifer's genetic make-up included plenty of old Mexican fighting-bull blood. She chased Jess around a mesquite while the colt eyed the rope like it was a monster. He didn't run, but he thought about it.

Eventually, the heifer got tired of the chase and walked off a little ways to catch her breath. Jess tried to ease up to the colt so as not to scare him into running. Headquarters was a long walk back.

About the time Jess got close to the colt, the heifer got a new spurt of mad and charged him around the mesquite a few more times. She repeated this for two hours. Finally, she walked off far enough for Jess to catch his colt, coil up the rope and get mounted.

Jess decided his next multitasking would include riding quietly back to headquarters and doing his roping practice in the arena.

It was obvious the lesson for the day was his.

Julie, an Olympic multitasker, can be reached for comment at www.julie-carter.com. New book on pre-sale now!.