Claire's Story: Chapter 7

They continued their ride through the rugged terrain, allowing the horses to run full out when they reached an open snow-covered valley. At Sean’s lead, Claire encouraged her mare into a gallop, and the horses galloped side-by-side for a quarter of a mile. They slowed into a balanced trot, both animals blowing steam from their nostrils like dragons. Claire couldn’t imagine a more perfect day. She was experiencing nature in its finest glory, and she wanted to appreciate every second of it. They continued to ride a quick pace until they climbed upon another bluff, this one slightly steeper than before. Once at the top, Sean told Claire to help him look for the cows in the river bottom below, where they often bedded down.

The horses picked their way down the slope with experienced caution, their feet finding solid ground through the rocks and snow. The dogs soon picked up the scent of the nearby cattle, and Sean spotted what he had initially feared. One heifer stood under the shelter of a cluster of large oaks with her brand new calf nursing heartily. However, another heifer stood further out in a small snow drift, her head hung low and her back hunched. A bit of steam arose from the tiny wet calf in the snow near her head, but the calf lay motionless.

Sean swiftly dismounted his horse and Sully stood still. He untied the roll of blankets from behind the saddle, told his dogs to stay back, and began to slowly approach the new mother cow, uttering low, calming sounds as he trudged through the snow. The cow responded with a nervous moo, but she didn’t move. As he got closer to the newborn calf at her head, he knelt down, and his experienced hands reached for its mouth. The calf was alive and breathing, just cold and weak.

“Claire, try to get this calf up on his feet and nursing if you can,” Sean said as Claire made her way to him. “I’m gonna check out Momma here, I’m afraid she’s got twins, ‘cause this calf sure is small.”

Claire wrapped the wet calf in one of the blankets, and lifted him to his feet. He stood unsteadily, but was not yet strong enough to walk. She bent and picked him up, and moved him to the cow’s udder. As she worked on getting the tiny calf to suckle the teat, Sean began to strip his clothes off until he stood in the frigid winter air half-naked, his muscled chest and abs belonging more on the pages of a calendar than on a Texas cowboy. He patted the cow’s hindquarters lightly, and slowly began to push his right arm into the cow’s swollen vulva. He was up to his elbow inside of her when he announced that he did indeed feel another calf.

“Yep, it’s twins. Who knows how long she’s been like this though, this other little guy’s likely to be dead,” he said sullenly.

Sean continued to work inside the cow, at times reaching up to his shoulder to readjust the calf’s head and legs into the best position to be delivered. In the meantime, Claire’s persistence with her calf paid off, and the little guy began to suck voraciously. “That’s it, that’s it!” she encouraged him with excitement. “Drink up all that colostrum you can, it’ll make you nice and strong.”

Claire tossed a smile toward Sean, but was worried when she saw the strain and sweat upon his brow. He was having trouble manipulating the calf’s twin, and every passing minute lowered the chances of delivering a live calf. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked with concern.

“I think I’ve just about got him. Can you get a blanket ready to catch him? He may be not be breathing anymore,” Sean panted, slightly out of breath. He continued to pull, and seconds later he produced a tiny, limp calf, it’s warm body producing waves of hot steam. Claire wrapped the baby in a fresh blanket, and began to rub and dry it. Sean knelt near the calf’s head, removed the thin slimy film from its nose, and grabbed its tongue with his fingers. He pulled on the tongue several times to stimulate the calf to breathe, each time waiting with expectation for it to take its first breath of air. Finally, on the fourth pull, the calf inhaled with vigor, and began flopping around on the blanket in an effort to stand. Sean immediately helped the calf to his feet, and showed him to his mom’s enormous udder, where he began to drink the lifesaving milk voraciously.

Thrilled to have both babies alive and well, Sean began to laugh heartily, partly due to the flood of adrenaline he had just experienced, and partly because he could just picture how he must appear. He was on his knees in a foot of snow supporting a hungry baby calf, his bare chest and naked arms covered in sticky animal secretions, and his face and hair dripping with sweat. His laughter was infectious, and soon Claire was doubled-over laughing at their unusual situation as well. Once she regained a bit of composure, she retrieved Sean’s shirt, coat, and gloves, and he dressed quickly.

They now had the task of getting three new calves back to the barn, and two of those calves would have to be carried. Sean trudged through the snow towards the trees to check on the stronger cow and her calf, and as he made his way back to the horses, the mother cow followed behind as if a pet. Her little calf bucked and played happily beside her. Claire climbed aboard Trix, and Sean lifted one of the blanket-covered twins across the saddle in front of her.

“Do you think you’ll be able to hold him while you ride?” he asked with concern.

“Yep, I think we’ll be fine,” Claire replied with confidence.

Sean laid the other twin across his own saddle, swung a long leg over his horse, and they began the long ride back to the barn, herding the two cows and playful calf in front of them. “Granddad sure would’ve loved seeing that,” Sean said after a few minutes of riding. “He taught me everything I know about cows, and he always said that nothing is more rewarding than delivering a live calf with your own hands.”

“I bet he’d be pretty proud of you then. I know I was impressed,” Claire responded truthfully.

“Whatever. I know I looked ridiculous back there. Even you couldn’t keep from laughing!” he said with a mischievous tease.

“Well, no offense, but I’m pretty sure I’d laugh at anyone who was covered in afterbirth and half-naked in the freezing cold snow! That’s funny stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was laughing at myself too,” Sean said with a chuckle. “You still ok with that calf?”

“Yeah, we’re doing good.”

They arrived at the barn nearly an hour later, and Sean provided the new mothers and babies with clean stalls. The calves nursed heartily after their long trip, and the cows ate just as ravenously. After unsaddling and brushing their horses, both Sean and Claire trudged back to the house, exhausted after a long, but fully rewarding morning. Both needed showers after their adventure, Sean especially. Before heading upstairs however, Claire called her dad to see how his trek across the icy panhandle was faring, finding out that he was due to arrive in Canyon around 1 pm.

“Perfect,” Sean replied after Claire hung up. “That’ll give us just enough time to get into town and eat some lunch.”