This ain't the horse world.

Mondays have become my busy day again it seems.

This one happened to be my son's birthday, and my city-girl sister was visiting from Lafayette. We got some stuff done around the house in the morning, and then went to the sale barn for around 11:00. 

This was my first sale to attend without a person beside me who I could ask questions, and once again, I was a nervous wreck! By the time they got done selling all the cows, I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest, and once again, I couldn't remember what the cows' that I bought numbers, weights, or anything else were.

I ended up buying three cows. Two were boring old bred black cows- one looks pretty nice, the other is just ok. But my third purchase was a gamble. She was in a herd of skinny cows that all came together. She's spotted, horned, and weighed, full grown (I assume), 431 lb. because she was so skinny, and she's small-framed.

The low weight and the ugly made her sell for pretty cheap, and I was happy to get her. 

Unfortunately, I didn't bring a trailer this time. I had drive an hour toward home, get the truck from Josh, get the trailer, nail some pieces of cattle panel to the trailer floor, get my daughter off the bus, and drive the 2 hour round trip to Baton Rouge to get the cows. Luckily, my sister-in-law offered to keep the kids and let them play with her kids while I traveled, so I didn't have to worry about that.

When I went to pick the cows up, I had to get some guidance on where to go and what to do. This one man beside the loading chute asked me what I was picking up, and then he told m "you bought that one with a white face." I began to wonder, "how do these people remember what they bought, much less what I bought?"

So, I asked him, and he told me. He was the one bidding against me for that cow.

 

On the way home, I contemplated the day. Walking on the cat walk before the sale, quietly studying the cows with 20 other people. Eating lunch in the cafe, whispering my purchase plans to my sister. Sitting alone (well, with my sister and son, but alone in the cow-sense)  in the sale barn while purchasing. Listening to that man tell me that he was bidding against me.   And then it dawned on me- This ain't the horse world.

 In the horse world, when you buy a horse, everybody is happy for you, or even thankful that you took that horse off their feed bill, sometimes even thinking in the back of their mind, "sucker". In the horse world, generally people are encouraging, yet competetive, always wiling to give advice, whether or not it's solicited.

In the cow world, everyone is competition. For land, for cows, for prices, for information. Everyone wants to make the most money they can. Everyone wants those nice heifers and cows. Everyone wants that lease land. Everyone wants the good price on hay. 

So, everyone is quieter. If they like a cow, they don't mention it. If they find a good lease, they keep it quiet. If they figure out a way to make more, they keep it quiet. Whereas the horse world is full of knowledge and advice, the cow world seems to be full of competition and sealed mouths. 

TM