In Isaiah 30 God says, “He will send the rain,” and rain He has sent! Before anybody misunderstands me and thinks that there is one ounce of me that is complaining about the rain, I’m not. I am ecstatic. But I am in a position that I have never been in before. I have never seen it rain this much, this long, this consistent. Along with the large amounts of rain brings challenges we don’t normally deal with.
I have two different concerns that arise whenever there is a large amount of rain like this. The first, and it’s always the first for me other than my family because family comes first, are my horses. I don’t like to keep my horses penned up. When I was a kid we never separated our horses. We ran them all together and we always had them out in the pasture. When we fed, we fed them all together and fed them out of one big trough, but I’m not that brave anymore. I now keep them separate and it may be because I have a little bit more money invested in them than I did when I was a kid. But a couple things to think about.
With rain comes mud. With mud comes thrush, mosquitos, and dirty pens. It’s a good practice all the time to keep your horses’ feet clean, but especially when they are having to stand and walk through mud. The same goes with pens. Always keep a clean pen especially when it’s muddy and make sure the water can drain out. Another issue that you might have that we don’t have to deal with very often is rain rot. Horses and cattle both can get this. If you start to see scabby areas and hair loss this is a sign of rain rot. If this happens you can treat it with an iodine wash and if its sever then antibiotics.
The second concern is my cattle and the ranch. When you get this much rain you get a lot of runoff. And with runoff comes one thing. Washed out water gaps. In the middle of a drought everyone dreams of fixing water gaps. And when the rain comes and you’re knee deep in mud, with the cedar flies attacking, that’s when the romance begins! It’s not like it is in the movies.
The other thing is when it rains it pours…SNAKES!! And I HATE snakes. The snakes always seem to be out moving around after a rain.
One thing I take advantage of when it rains is a chance to practice in the mud. I’m a firm believer that you need to be prepared at whatever situation you might have at a rodeo. Most people say when it rains it’s too wet to practice. I know that it probably has happened before, but I have never been to a rodeo that has been canceled because it was too muddy. I’ve always felt like I have had two advantages. One, I have practiced in the mud, and two, “try has more to do with it than when the conditions are good.”
This is something you have to be smart about. I would never saddle my good horse and run 10 calves in the mud and take a chance on crippling my horse or my calves. Maybe all you do is run one calf, or flank and tie. Always use common sense and your best judgement. And who knows, you may find out that you have a good mud horse!
Until next time. God Bless and see you down the line.
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