With Archie in the corral, we noticed some quick changes in the calves. Everyone had runny noses and seemed to be breathing pretty hard when we checked them. Archie – it turns out – is quite the wrangler.
Taking note, we set out to move the corral to fresh grass, get the cows a bit more shade to beat a streak of hot days we have on the calendar and separate Archie from the rest of the crew.
Armed with the truck and side-by-side, Aaron and I moved the whole massive corral a few yards down the pasture. This process, honestly, sucks. The corral is so large and the panels are so old and used that we have a few weak spots. They tend to fall over or bend and twist if we aren’t careful. Of course, the strain and frustration of that are quick to boil over and we usually end up shouting in the middle of the pasture somewhere along the way.
True to form, this time was like the others. The major win, though, was seeing how excited the cows were to be able to walk a few steps into the tree line. We really pushed to get them up under the trees for shade – and we totally accomplished that. They were pumped to start snatching leaves from the low-hanging limbs. And Archie even walked right into his sectioned-off area of the corral with no problems!
We dished out some carrots as a reward, then relaxed on the deck in the 90º madness of the afternoon. Whew.