If I’m being so honest with myself, I think I peaked when I was 12. Why? Because when I was 12 I was a certifiable cowgirl. And I grew up in the era when Flicka was the ultimate boss girl movie so I thought I was pretty cool because that was ME. Then, I moved to Utah when I was 13 and found a couple different things to make my whole personality instead. But the ranch I grew up on stayed in the family, and once or twice a year I get the chance to put my boots back on and do “strong, independant woman” things. It’s called roundup:)
The background
The ranch is about 40,000 acres of sagebrush and cheatgrass, and it’s divided into 9 pastures. Every once in awhile we need to round the cows up, count them, and move them into a different pasture so that they don’t overgraze the land.
Horses are cool, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t very fast. The ranch has a lot of ground to cover and we always try to finish the job quickly. Our solution is to use motorcycles. I know it’s not quite the image you get in your mind when you picture a classic cattle drive, but trust me, it’s the only way to go. On a horse, roundup would take all day. On a motorcycle, it takes about half that time. It’s completely delightful.
Roundup 2023
This roundup was about the same as any other except we were missing my brother. He’s serving a mission right now. I miss him. And I especially missed him on this trip because, if I’m so so honest, roundup is a little bit scary. My brother, Wells, is dang good on a motorcycle so he and my dad usually cover all of the scary terrain looking for cows while I push the main herd.
Well, like I said he’s gone this summer. That means I had to act like a big girl. The pastures we had to work in this year had some of the tallest sagebrush on the ranch, which makes for a very bumpy ride. There was also a lot of pretty steep terrain. Heaven save my soul, I was pretty darn scared.
So here: was the plan: don’t think, just get it done. Think too hard about anything and it starts to feel daunting. To keep my brain busy, there are a few things that I rolled around in my head over and over again. Some of them were pretty dumb. Some of them were maybe a bit profound. You might call me a philosopher by the end of this post. We’ll see.
1. You’ll probably live
This one is first on the list because I repeated it to myself most often. And, it’s pretty self explanatory. Anywhere I had to ride that seemed a little terrifying, I just thought, “I’ll probably live.” AND, after every scary moment, suprise! I did live. The more often I survived things that scared me, the more I realized that I was worried about things that probably weren’t that big of a deal. And doing something scary and finding myself in one piece at the end of it was very encouraging:) But I had to bite the bullet first to realize it was going to be okay.
I’ve found myself saying this in my head during stressful times during this most recent semester at college. It always makes me laugh. Things in life can be so, so crazy but don’t worry, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll live. Something about saying that makes everything else seem so simple. Just put in the work required to get the grade, the job, the house, whatever it is, and it might kick your booty in the process but hey, the good news is, you’ll probably live!
2. Don’t idle too low
Okay let me explain this one. In it’s lowest gear, a motorcycle will still move, even if you aren’t giving it gas. It’s called idling. Some cars do it too. Mine doesn’t. My car doesn’t move unless I really make it move. It’s old. That’s so besides the point though.
Anyways, some cows just really like to move like cold molasses. There was a point in the day where we were pushing a small group of cows and we were going real slow, just idling along behind them. Every once in awhile I turned around, gave the bike some gas and did a fast loop. This is because if you idle a bike for too long, it overheats.
Weird, right? You would think that going super fast all the time would overheat it. But it’s going too slow for too long that’s hard on the motor. That’s because when you ride fast, the wind cools the engine down. Go slow for too long and your bike will burn out.
I don’t think idling is that great for people either. I’m all for breaks, and rest, and taking things slow. But I think there’s something to be said for speeding up instead every once in awhile. In my unprofessional opinion, slowing down isn’t always the solution. It’s really refreshing to jump into life with both feet and see what you’re capable of, instead of waiting for life to happen to you. Take that how you will.
3. A place for you will open up…and if it doesn’t, make one
This one I thought about often. Specifically in regards to sagebrush. From a distance, some parts of the big brush were so thick that it looked impossible to get through on my motorcycle. But I often didn’t have time to look for better openings because I was busy chasing cows, so I just told myself a space would open up. And almost without fail I’d find a small space where the brush was thinner that I could fit my bike through. I just wasn’t able to see it until I was up close.
Sometimes there wasn’t a gap in the brush though. And that was when I kind of just…sped up, put my head down and made one. It was never a super comfy experience but it pretty much always worked. I think if you put enough energy and trust into something, it will work out. You’ll find a space for yourself, your skillset, your passion etc. There will always be room in the right place if you just keep trying. Just don’t slow down or you’ll get stuck:)
Ellie, literally who asked?
Uhh, nobody. no one asked. Someone should have though because who freaking knew you could get so profound about cows and dirtbikes. I really think these thoughts boil down to the fact that we as a human race tend to overthink things to the max and that’s where we get into trouble. The reality is that if we keep doing our best, things are going to work out. I have a lot of faith in that simple concept. Simplify:)
Now that you’ve read about my experience with cows, I think you should check out my experience with fish 🙂 click here to read about my time on the little Alaskan island called Port Protection.
As always, safe adventures!
And thank you:) I’m glad you’re here.
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