Hoggan's House of Horror's Bull Maze

You can screen your relatives phone calls....but they still know where you live :)

It is a great day at the office. Busy processing orders and preparing packages to ship.

*Screened Dad twice this morning…..and then he showed up in my yard ….honking : )

When I went outside, I was instructed that they needed my eyes. Tommy (awesome neighbor, age 84ish) had been working on a truck the day before…left his call phone on the battery… and the truck had drove over 20 miles away to a haystack. So…they needed my eyes…to look for the phone as we drive 10mph looking alongside the road.

I’m a good sport. I give my best effort at finding a needle in a haystack for over an hour.

No luck so I come home and get back to work. Less than an hour later, I hear a knock at my door. I go to the door to see my 4yr old lil sister and my Dad pulling out of the yard. Ok, I can roll with the punches. Toys, treat, movie….We play…while I attempt to get some work done.

Phone rings...It is my Aunt Nancy but I really need to finish this up. I screen her. She calls again. I remember that she is headed to Montana so I answer in case of travel troubles. I answer. She is yelling….Hurry go outside!

J2 got bucked off & the horse is running your way. Running out the door with Penelope….just in time to see a riderless horse run into the yard.

Nancy and J2 show up in her car. She just happened to be rounding the corner when J2 got in his little wreck so she gathered him up & took off after the horse. J2 walks over to me, pretty shook up but not hurt. Here’s where it gets even cooler….J2 was riding down the road…looking for the MISSING PHONE! Lol…still no luck : )

Ok, back to the task at hand. Corner the mare up in the pasture. I hold the big bay so he can get back on and ride her in circles. She’s good just a little spooky. He rode her like a champ. I still didn’t want to send him by himself tho. (I never realized how awesome it was when I was little. My little brother Eric was only a few years younger than me. Dad always sent us together to do stuff…which was nice…because we could catch our horses when someone fell off : )

Ok, halter his horse & let her graze. I have got to get these packages to town before the Post Office closes! J2 &Penelope chillin while I wrap up loose ends. Scramble to get everything together. Can’t leave spooky bronc in the yard tied to fence so I get a trailer ride how. Wait. Wait Wait a little more! Load horse up…ship kids home…and head out. Make the post office just in the nick of time & even the movie rental without a fine! Ya!

Phone call from Dad’s wife…Bull is out an Grandma’s. Call up there to see if I need to come help get it in. No, it’s back over by where it’s supposed to be.

SILENCE PHONE so I can get some of the work done that I should’ve done during the day. Awesome, kick butt, take names & make some progress for a solid 2 hours. Glance at the phone…I missed numerous calls from 6 family members. Can I put Grandma to bed. Reply Yes to text and head up to her house. Someone else was called also so we both showed up. No worries. Visit. Grandma goes to bed. I head home. ….I DO NOT see anything out while as I drive by the corrals.

I’m not home 10 minutes & I see a facebook post about a Hamer Traffic Jam. Bulls and calves out on the road. Call to see if they need help. Reply is….Might as well. J

THIS IS WHERE the REAL FUN BEGINS
Grab a headlight (flashlight) and head out the door. (Yes, this is always the start of a good time!) . 2 neighbors are down there trying to get everything off the road. Pitch black out, with a flashlight strapped to my head, chasing an unknown number of bulls and calves through the cool night air. I head down go around the bulls out in a corner of the place. The plan is to send them up a feed alley & in a corral. This is a great idea….until I get back there.

It is REALLY DARK! When I get to the fence I need to climb through I come right up on a black bull that is still out. Well running into him spooks us both and he runs off into the night. I can see with my light good enough to run and navigate…but not good enough to see if I have all the bulls…or where they are at for sure. (At this point in time, I realize that after this moment...I will forever love the handsome young man who gave me a headlight for Christmas last year)

Well, when in doubt…I choose running & hollering like a maniac. There was also the use of my imaginary dog. Whistling like you have a ferocious dog that is heading there way…lol…with any luck maybe a stray will show up in the night : )

Regardless…IT WORKS! We are gathered…or I’m hoping I’ve got everything but what I have is headed at a high trot down the alley. Now at the end of the alley is guys standing to turn the bulls. Spot lights…a loud 4 wheeler…and 4 people…this is what we are heading towards. I am now running in a high sprint towards a bright spot light and yelling in my best “Bull Voice”. The cool part about this is…I can see when a bull is in front of the spot light but when they move over…I am BLINDED BY THE LIGHT! (yes, you can start singing now : ) Well, I don’t think the cattle can see very good either some are hesitating. I keep pushing. The thought crosses my mind….Now how am I going to explain….How I managed to run into a full size bull in the dark! : )

Well, most everything goes in. Apparently, Richard had a slight bull fighting bout…and 1 bull is still on the loose. I wasn’t sure if I got everything from down below but after a head count the black bull I spooked was the only other bull MIA.

Get the 2 bulls in with Richard only having to bull fight a little more : )

Now for the SORTING in the dark! I think this would be an AWESOME Haloween idea…Hoggan’s House of Horror's Bull Maze! See if you can survive the bull obstacle course…in the dark. Lol… Your adrenaline can really get rolling as you try to make plays to get bulls sorted in or by. Gathering ever pen on the place to sort and make a head count ….with a flashlight to make sure that every animal is accounted for.

Ok, this entire time I’m thinking …Now, I don’t mind being called to help…but I do prefer it be right now…after 9 o’clock I have No guilt that I should be doing other things. : ) I mean no light isn’t optimal but ….to be quite honest…I kinda liked it. Sick, I know…Fun rush to finish off the night and really make you appreciate the rest of the day!

We got the new calves unloaded. Everything was accounted for, fed a few mangers ...and called it a rap on a fun filled day :)

Thankful for never having a dull moment!

Thanks for traveling the Gypsy trail with me today!

p.s. Sorry...no photo...rockin the headlight is pretty awesome...maybe next time :)

This story happened October 20, 2011. I dug through the archives...& did find a headlight picture :) It was changing a fuse. Dillon Rodeo Banquet Circa 2008....but it will help give a visual for the whole sorting in the dark scenario

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