Cats and Dogs Shorty was trailering his horse to a distant part of the range early one morning, when he noticed a shiny, white pick up in the rear-view mirror. It struck him as a little odd, given that it was early and that the truck was towing a shiny stock trailer. Shorty figured that maybe one of the neighbors had splurged and bought a new ride for both he and his stock. Shorty pulled off the highway onto the road leading to his destination and was a little surprised that the truck followed him to the locked gate. Shorty got out, opened the gate and turned back towards his truck. He looked up in time to see a lanky young man walking towards him. “Hey Shorty.” The young man stopped and extended his right arm. Shorty recognized the man as Dave Allison, the head of the local RCMP Livestock Investigation Branch, in fact he was the head and only member of that section. That explained the shiny new equipment. “Hey Dave,” Shorty shook Dave’s hand. “What the hell are you doing out here this early in the morning?” “In-laws are in town,” Dave’s reply was straight faced and Shorty was unsure if Dave was kidding or dead serious. “You ridin’ today?” “I am,” Shorty replied. “Need help? Really, my in-laws are in town, all day!” “Sure, it will take all day though…” Dave was already on his way back to his truck. The two men pulled their respective rigs inside the pasture. Shorty opened the rear door of his trailer on
his way back to lock the gate and when he returned his horse had stepped out and was eating grass. Dave was still dragging his horse out of his trailer. Shorty took the reins from his saddle horn, tightened his cinch and opened the passenger door of his pick up. He reached into the cab, removed his 30-30 and slipped into the scabbard on the right side of his saddle. “That loaded?” Dave was looking at the rifle. “Not much good to me if it ain’t.” Shorty swung into the saddle to wait for Dave. Dave had removed the jacket he was wearing in favor of a more tattered one and in doing so he revealed his sidearm in a shoulder holster. “That loaded?” Shorty said with a smirk. “Ain’t much good to me either way,” Dave replied and the two men and Shorty’s dog left the trucks for the task ahead. Shorty wasn’t sure quite what to expect with his volunteer government help, but it turned out he was pretty good. The two men had the sixty or so pairs gathered up and headed in the right direction within a couple of hours. As they rode along an old logging road, the two men chatted about cows and cowboys, about police work and about family, not so much about in-laws. They had climbed a fair bit over the past couple of hours and Shorty was busy watching his dog, Mike. Mike was doing his job, but he was intent on something behind him. “I’ll be right back Dave,” Shorty said over his shoulder
Today’s Angus Advantage 42
Summer 2018.indd 42
7/31/2018 2:53:06 PM