Mustering

There are 3 main divisions to the cattle work here; mustering and yard work,both of which are Stock Camp tasks, and tailing weaners, which is the Weaner Camp's job.

Mustering is the process of bringing the cattle in from the paddocks to the yards (pens). At home this is called "rounding up" or "gathering." Paddocks vary in size; small ones are 60-80 km2, but most are 150-200 km2. Bush Paddock, in the furthest northeastern corner of the station, is a whopping 1,825 km2. It takes 4 days to muster. Each paddock usually has between 1,000 and 5,000 cows. Tat's just cows. There are also this year's calves and last year's weaners, not to mention all the bulls that made the calves. It's a lot of cattle.

On the morning of a muster, we saddle our horses at dawn and get them loaded onto the horse float (truck) at first light. So far the paddocks we have mustered have been less than an hour away, but as we start working the further ones I'm sure our days will get earlier. The mustering crew usually consists of 5 horseback riders, 2 guys on motorbikes and, get this, a helicopter. The bikes and chopper are already at work by the time the cavalry arrives. Because of the sheer size of the paddocks, it would be impossible to ride around collecting all of the cattle with horses. Instead, the motrbikes and helicopter flush out the cows and push them to the horse crew, which holds them in a corner. Once we have a large enough mob (herd) assembled, the folks on horses start driving them toward the yards. As the mob moves along, the vehicles continue to pick up strays, which are added to the larger group.

Last Friday we mustered a paddock that was about 160 km2 and contained about 2,000 cattle. We were in the saddle at 7:30 and didn't get down until 10 hours and 25 km later. It was a very long day, but, as mustering days go, it was par for the course. The hardest parts of mustering are the very beginning, when you're trying to convince 1,000 stubborn cows to get moving, and at the very end, "yarding up," which is when you push all 2,000+ tired, ornery cows into 2 large holding pens in the yards. There were also several obstacles along the way, including 2 bores that we had to pass. Bores are wells that supply water for the cattle. As we pass them, we can't let the cattle stop to drink because once they do, they won't start walking again. So each bore becomes an epic battle to circumvent the mob around the troughs, while the thirsty cattle fight just as hard to get to them. At each bore the helicopter had to help us move the mob on.

When moving the mob, we generally push them along a fence line, which funstions as a barrier on one side. One person rides lead. His job is to set the course, provide something for the cattle to follow, and keep everything behind him. Then there is the point rider, who rides at the front corner of the mob, keeping all of the would-be runaways in line. The crazies tend to congregate at the front, so the pont rider is constantly chasing after breakaways. Along the side of the mob, wing riders keep the edges tucked in and keep the whole group moving. Finally, the tail rider brings up the rear. He has to keep the slow pokes moving along, fight the quitters who want to turn back, and urge everything forward at a reasonable speed. All of this can be accomplished with 4 horsemen, but it gets easier with more. Each positon has ts own skll sets and challenges to be mastered; setting the rght pace in the front, findng a balance of pressure in the back, and on the sides, "pushng in"- moving the cattle forward by riding into the herd. So far I have mostly been riding the wing and have not qute figured out the key to pushng in. Oh well. It's early yet.