March is the start of calving season for a lot of us here in ranch country. Long hours during the day turn into even longer hours at night as we keep watch over our herds. Every new calf is monitored to ensure they have the very best start in life. We try to make sure everyone has gotten up and nursed in a timely fashion, that the cows are taking care of their calves instead of treating them like punching bags, and that mother nature doesn’t throw a fit and chill a bunch of calves out in a spring blizzard. While calving season is by far the busiest time of the year, it can be the most rewarding too. Like many other ranches, calving season is also the time of the year when my horses get to earn their keep. I know there are several places that do their cow work with four-wheelers or pickups, but I believe there is no better way to handle cattle than from atop a good mount.

                  This philosophy does have its downside, however, see here in the northern plains the cold winter months sometimes make the heated cab of a side by side look better than a saddle on a horse. Once the cows are weaned and have grazed all their fall feed and are moved to their winter homes, my horses usually don’t see much use aside from having to doctor an occasional sore-footed cow. By the time calving season rolls around, both man and caballo are a little plumper from our winter diet, and half of this pair spent a little time dreaming about being one of those bucking horses at the National Finals Rodeo. March has a lot of cool crisp mornings that tend to make ponies have a hump in the middle of their back.

                  The first saddling of spring on horses that have had a winter vacation can be quite the time. This is especially true of young colts that are seeing their first season of real work after being under saddle for the first time just a few months before. Twelve years ago I learned a valuable lesson from a green colt. Joe was this colt’s name. A red dun with a white snip on the end of his nose. He was a good looking horse, built right and growing up in all the right places. I was interning for a large ranch in the sandhills of Nebraska where every bit of our cow work was done horseback. With my saddlebags loaded with tags, and my coat buttoned tight to keep the crisp morning air off my neck, I knew trouble was likely the minute the boss dropped me off at the first pair pasture. Joe didn’t want to be left alone this morning, he was beginning to act like a spoiled toddler. As the trailer rumbled over the hill and out of sight, I swung a leg over and set out to the task of the day.

                  The bigger the pasture, the longer the walk back to the house if you fall off. I was in a pasture with no cell service, and five miles from headquarters as the crow flies. When Joe decided to cut loose and go to bucking, the thought of falling off was not an option. I lost my tags, pen, calving book, phone, and anything else that could fly off, but I made my bronc ride. I was half an hour looking for lost tack, but when I finally gathered all my belongings, I realized my lesson for the day. When the ride gets a little wild, sometimes it’s best to grab a short rein and a deep seat because it’s a long walk home if you don’t.

                  That’s all for this time, good luck to my fellow ranchers out there bringing in this years calf crop. May God bless you with kind mamas or fast feet, and as Mad Jack Hanks used to say, “Check your Cinch on occasion.” Keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire and God bless.

Meinzer is a fourth-generation rancher raised on the southeastern plains of Colorado. He and his family live and ranch in Oshkosh, Neb.