Cattle sorting 101
- Kirsten Bonanza
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Turning resistance of something new into the joy of living.
A few years ago I got invited to tag along with a group of people from the barn where Aztec lives to go to Decatur for a cattle sort during the Macon County Fair. I figured that it might be fun, but after a super trying day where nothing was going right I started asking questions about what would turn the day around into something more joyful. The first thing that popped into my head was to go with them.
Time wise this means about 3 hours on the road and many more hanging around once there for something that I don't know much about. I've got no skin in the game so in theory theres no pull or reason to go. In fact, just the opposite in some cases its the push of resistance that moves us. How much of the push pull is just judgements that we have about the things we choose or don't choose? If you don't already know me well, I'm a consummate seeker and that leads to engaging in personal development tools. Some of what I've been exploring lately has led to vast amounts of personal freedom with so many conclusions being wiped out that I feel like I can finally hear what I would like to create in my life. I'm so grateful to find that I can really choose more for me rather than what I think others want me to do, or say, or be.
Much of culture is based on the layering of expectations of what you will and won't do because of who you are, where you're from, what you've chosen previously, etc. But that's not true - at any point we can choose different and change tracks. In fact I have a class coming up called Out of the Box that's about this!
Back to the sort -> I'd seen a few videos, but otherwise didn't really know what was involved in sorting cattle other than they were numbered and someone called out numbers which always reminded me of Bingo. At this point my attitude was sure why not go. If the interest is there the day of I can go and if not I can pull out and it won't be an issue.
When I got to the barn it turned out one of the horses had an abscess and couldn't go leaving an empty space on the trailer. They offered to bring Aztec along for the ride and I figured why not? Otherwise I wasn't going to have time to ride and I really also wanted to enjoy some time with my horse.
He knew something was going on and kept peering around the corner in the sweet way that he does when he's being curious about what's happening that reminds me of an international spy. In this case a goofy 1200 lb spy. I did let him know energetically that we were going on an adventure together, but couldn't tell him more than that since I didn't know much myself. We got loaded up into the trailer without fuss and were on our way from Springfield to Decatur.
The ride there was uneventful and mainly conversation and music. We tacked up once we got there; I had borrowed a western saddle so that I'd have my very own 15 hand seating for viewing the event*. I went off with Lauren and Tara to find water for the horses. With no agenda for the rest of the night I took Aztec for a ride in the warm up area and got some good work in. We went for a wander around the perimeter of the grounds and met some people and goats. I got to see my horse in a new space and explore the area with him. I had to admit that I thought it would be funny to take him into the fair, but didn't end up choosing that. As the sort went on I learned some new things about how it worked. Watching the set up as each calf got a number ties onto its back and a lot of questions later I was ready to continue to attempt to avoid the inevitable entering the ring for the first time in years.
My typical instinct with something new is to master all the rules and practice a lot and only then consider performing in front of people. But this would give me an opportunity to let go and explore, and that's exactly what I did. I waited until almost the very last minute possible to sign up and then eventually the adrenaline of entering the ring was heightened. We went in and had a good run getting 5 of the 10 cattle which was WAY better than I thought I'd do. I loved the way it felt to combine speed and precision. Heightened attention and reaction time key to keeping the cattle from going trough the gate before their time.
After that evening at the fair grounds I had several other occasions to participate in cattle sorts, and I enjoyed every one of them. For the three years that he was in my world, Aztec would be a constant invitation to play with different modalities and possibilities and to push myself beyond doing it right and into just having fun with life. He only moved on because he asked to have a new person and being a Talk to The Animals certified facilitator I knew that if I chose not to listen that I'd be going against what I knew would create greater.
How do you have conversations with a horse?
* I don't actually think of my horse as furniture or a yoga mat. Perhaps one day I'll blog about it or talk about it in a clinic to share more.
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