Nervous moments on a mammoth donkey at the Lower Elgin Road longhorn roundup

While traveling east along Lower Elgin Road in Elgin, one may spot some colorful longhorn cattle. On occasion they may be on the road, as to some the fence is just a mere suggestion, but mostly they remain in their designated area, grazing as good bovines should. Along with their rather dapper coat coloring, these cattle sport some impressive head gear that summon memories of Charles Russell’s paintings of the Old West. Visitors passing by on their way to the local vineyards for some winetasting sometimes stop to photograph these majestic beasts. 

As good cattlemen/women, the owners of this local herd periodically gather the cows, the attending bull and their offspring for branding, castrating, vaccinating and the separating of the older calves for market. This is the fun time for us neighbors, as we get to play cowboy/girl with our equines and do the ROUNDUP!!

As I saddle up my steed for the big day, memories of the old western “Rawhide” come to mind. Granted, the rest of the crew is a good deal younger (and probably have never even heard of that TV series) than my two-years-away-from-eighth-decade self so may not share my particular enthusiasm, but they are nonetheless eager to participate, each properly mounted on the traditional quarter horses for this gathering. 

Normally I ride my half-horse, Paisley — she’s a mule and maybe part quarterhorse on her mama’s side — and is a willing and able cow-mule, but this time my mount of choice is Seemore. Seemore is a mammoth donkey and as large as the largest horse there… but is terrified of the longhorns. He puts on a brave face, but should one of the cows stop and peer at him, he goes into panic mode and attempts to find a new zip code. So, seeing as how there are plenty of people to help with the gather, Seemore and I are happy to just tag along behind the herd and take pictures of the event as we all whoop and holler the ambling bovines over the hill to their destination at a nearby ranch and corrals for their processing.

All goes smoothly, as the human and equine participants are well-experienced (except for Seemore) with handling these now rather unhappy mama cows and their terrified youngsters. Baby calves are branded, vaccinated, tagged and returned to their mothersm and older calves are trailered away to become, well, what one finds at the meat counter or in their pets’ food. The remaining herd is free to mosey on back to their place just off of, or perhaps in the middle of from time to time, Lower Elgin Road. 

The tradition of the west continues quietly in Elgin as we all head home and await the fall roundup. Next time I think Paisley the mule will be a better choice, as poor Seemore now needs counseling. He’d much prefer to stick to his forte: eating and trail riding.