JAIL BREAK!!!

This past week I was touring the Midwest with the rest of the Texas A&M Livestock Judging Team in preparation for the American Royal. Along the way we had a many stops where we were able to work out on some very high quality stock. Our first stop was Buck Cattle Company in Madill, Oklahoma. They still had some cattle there after their sale, including the sale topper (a big THANK YOU goes out to Jirl Buck for letting us sort through another great set of cattle) So after getting a late start at Buck's, the daylight limited the amount of classes we could see, and when dusk settled in we departed for Stillwater, Oklahoma.



While in Stillwater we worked out at all of the farms on the Oklahoma State campus. The beef unit had all of the steers from either the Tulsa State Fair or the Oklahoma State Fair. We made an entire morning of steer classes and then we got to go to eat at one of my favorite places, El Vaquero! One of our judging team coaches, Blake Bloomberg, introduced this place to me and I think that every time I pass Stillwater, I will stop in for some great Mexican food. The afternoon was filled with hog and sheep classes then we again headed north.



The day before the contest we went to Summit Cattle Company/Charolais Farms. This was the stop that none of us will forget. We thought that we would be working out on some bred heifers, yearling bulls, and maybe some young calves. However, when we arrived at the farm, we quickly noticed that all of the cattle were FEEDLOT CATTLE! The National Western in Denver is the only contest that has actual feedlot cattle, and we were stumped as to why were where there. So our coaches head down the alley to a pen that has some bulls on feed. We are just standing outside the van waiting for the go ahead to come on and judge. We are just watching our coaches try to sort off cattle into a vacant pen from about 50 yards away. What happens next, is what made the trip. We notice that two bulls have ran to the corner of the pen and jumped out! They somehow made it under the steel cable that ran along the top of the feed bunk.



The layout of this farm was not prepared for escapees. Once the cattle got out they had the rolling hills of Iowa to roam. Everyone on the team looked at each other with the signature "OH CRAP" look and we were not sure what was going to happen. About this time one of the most intense combinations of modern and western ranching was being seen. Five pen riders on horseback appeared from no where and took out after the loose cattle. Then we noticed huge clouds of dust coming from roads that lead to the feed lot. I think that every truck in a five mile radius was called into action. Our position on top a hill proved to be great for watching the roundup that was taking place, and let me tell you it was INTENSE! The cowboys on horseback and behind the wheel quickly cut off the cattle and headed them back towards the pens. But the cattle had a different plan. After running through two sets of fences, an Australian cattle dog finally herded them into a pen of other feeder cattle. After this escapade, we were asked to move inside to a barn to judge the cattle in the working pens which were made out of 6 foot tall solid gates. We all had to stand tippy-toe to see these goofball cattle. We initially thought that one of our coaches left a gate open which would have made a much better blog!

However, what we saw there must have been just what we need, because at the Royal contest, as a team we won cattle, reasons, and were high team overall!