Not sure if there's anything more western than a small herd of wild horses. These are from a herd of maybe 50 roaming around the pasture I'm working in. It has been amusing watching a group of locals trying to herd them into some pins off a county road, so far the horses are winning.?ÿ
If the ranch gets time they could send out some cowboys and maybe a couple of motorcycles and gather them up but the 4 wheelers aren't having any luck.?ÿ
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This is as close as they let me get, I've been herding them away from my base every so often, the locals have tried to send them east but so far the horses have figured it all out and eluded them.?ÿ
Do I hear the song "Born Free" playing softly in the background?
Around here we don't have many wild horses but we have plenty of cattle and such that just have to come see what a base unit is all about.?ÿ?ÿSeveral times I've found square hay bales tucked up in a shed close by.?ÿ Tossing some about elsewhere usually draws their attention for a little while.
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I hate putting the base in a pasture with horses, but these avoid me and my stuff, I suppose they are wary or anything human related at this point. I've had to pull base antenna wires out of the mouth of a domestic horse. And cattle will rub on them, horses will eat the seat off the 4-wheeler.
We were surveying in a pasture several years ago that had a few horses in it.?ÿ They didn't seem to pay us any attention as we headed off into the woods.?ÿ I went back an hour or so later to pick up my truck and found scratches on the hood.?ÿ I guess one of them tried to climb up on it.?ÿ I pulled out onto the highway and glanced at my outside rearview mirror.?ÿ It was GONE!?ÿ I pulled over and found the plastic housing hanging down with teeth marks all over it.?ÿ I went to the seed and feed and bought a couple of bales of hay for them.?ÿ I figured if they were hungry enough to eat plastic they needed all the help they could get.
Andy
Lots of folks around here keep a couple of mules or donkeys in with their herds. I've heard that coyotes keep their distances from them. And if you think a horse can be obstinate, try shooing a jackass away from your stuff.
I have found that a pick handle comes in handy when discussing matters with a mule.
Yesterday I looked up from the screen and saw something out of place.?ÿ I finally determined it was a jogger in a white outfit going down the road a half mile distant out my window.?ÿ A few seconds later I saw a cow raise her head from eating grass, then take off toward the jogger.?ÿ That caught the attention of a few other cows and calves.?ÿ Within 30 seconds every critter in that 120 acres was headed towards the same general area.?ÿ Curiosity is quite a thing.
Same thing that happens when you drive into a pasture with a "Pavlovian" white Chevy pickup.
To the bovine mind it looks exactly like the truck that brings them cattle cubes. Soon you become the pied piper of Angus.
A few weeks ago I was watching one of those Cop shows, maybe Live PD, that shows real video from car pursuits and foot pursuits. They showed infrared video from a police helicopter of a woman on foot that had been running from police. She was crossing a pasture with a heard of cows chasing her. It was quite entertaining! The cows were just curious but I bet that woman was scared to death.
@paden-cash “born free”-maybe the kid rock version....
Ended up in the ER once when some horses came near the rig to try to eat the wipers - I ?yeeyaw-git?-Ed them and got kicked in my upper thigh for my effort- when I saw the blood running out the bottom of my pant leg- I drove myself out to the highway and down the road a ways to a turnout - called the office on hi-band radio and they sent an ambulance. Working solo on ?ÿthe fifth of July off the road.... stupid stupid stupid
@andy-bruner- I’ve seen them drag their teeth on the hoods of rigs- bizarre-