Sunday, April 5, 2009

HEAD EM' UP MOVE EM' OUT











" Get along little doggie get along",Wyoming will be your new home by Woody Guthrie, and written years ago by a ole movie cowboy Gene Autry in the early 30's.The song is about taking cattle from one place to another, it was called then and still today, a CATTLE DRIVE .This morning on the way to Church as we were coming around a cruve in the road there was a genuine ,Thai cattle drive ,walking down the middle of the road,cowboys and all. There are lots of small farmers in our village that move their small herd up and down the sides of the road and every once in a while into a flower bed or two , for the purpose of getting free food for the herd, as not to many grow hay for the feed. This was not one of these ,but a real cattle drive taking the fattened cattle to the market, and very slowly as not to walk off the extra fat put on the few days before, I read about cattle drives in a few books and they say that calttle can loose as much as 300 pounds on a long cattle drive as the ones in the song " Get along little Doggie". They have raised them and fattened them in hopes of getting a good price for them at the cattle buyers in Kanchanaburi .at the stock yards.Was only a short wait as they moved them over to the side to let us pass , it also gave me time for a few photos ,and to see when possible, a few smiles from the cowboys as I gave them the thumbs up sign, for a job well done. I also read on a few web sites that there are many ranches in America and other countries where you can join them for a cattle drive , some long, some short drives, your choice for a fee and expereince the old west and a real CATTLE DRIVE, and be a cowboy or cow girl for a day or two . Sounds like a fun idea to me , how many of you would like to go on a cattle drive and be a cow poke for a few ???Eating beans and beef, from a chuck wagon , sleeping under the stars , branding the cows and riding behind them in all that dust ,and of course cow dung as they call it , I hear they even burn dried cow dung for the campfires , just like the good ole days . I think maybe I'm going to add A Cattle Drive to my Bucket List , and put it close to the top as I like the thought of sitting around the camp fire and singing the song "HOME,HOME ON THE RANGE". Where the deer and the antilope roam, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skys are not cloudy all day. Malcolm

4 comments:

Mike said...

They say a man with a few head of cattle here is quite rich. I often encounter the "free" grazing herd when I drive into Prachuap.

They work the land between the road and railway. I am quite surprised not to have witnessed an accident as a Thai cow takes a bit of stopping.

Come on Daisy!

Martin in Bulgaria said...

Hi Maloclm and CieJay,
A great comparison of now and your previous home country. the pictures certainly bakc it up. A fine balance between grazing for fattenign up and and exercise that loses weight must be difficult.
I've done a bit of cowboying here with horses and cattle and even used a lasso, we may have a three continent cowboy country triangle going on here..... lol

Martyn said...

Howdy cowboy
Me and my cowgirl "The Kid" have got a question to pose to you. When we head out of our ranch up Udon way we quite often come across a man or lady walking their cows along the road. They certainly ain't as organized as them cattle in your pic, they wander all over the place. I'm always a little concerned about our rented car getting hit and "The Kid" reckons that by law the cows have to be off the road by six in the evening, any truth in this. Sure as hell scares the dung out of me.
I don't know if it was big in the USA but as a kid here in the UK I just used to love watching "The Virginian" starring James Drury. It was the absolute favourite TV show of my childhood and lets not foget the Virginian's sidekick Trampus played by Doug McClure, your post has brought back many memories.
Gotta go pardner me beans are ready and me coffee's a boiling, I'm riding out of town soon. Yeeeeeha

Malcolm and Ciejay Burgess said...

Mike,I sure hope they don't really sell them by weight as them are the skinnest cows I have ever seen, and I think that most cars give a wide birth to the cowboys and let them have the right away , I have never saw a accident between a cow and a vehicle my time here
Martin , never was a cowboy , but we use to go to my grand-pa's farm every summer and I got pretty good at milking a cow,and of course I have cleaned up a lot of cow poop when we had to clean out the barn , not my favorite job.
Martyn, check with the folks up the road that have the ones in the top picture, and they said to Ciejay that the have to have them in a coral or tied with a rope after it gets dark.I like the Virginian to but my all time favorite was Bonanza. And remember that Clint Eastwood got his start in the series, Wagons Ho that started Ward Bond. Good memories them old shows bring back.
Thanks for the read , does this ole heart good . Malcolm