Florida cattle

[flaboy+]

Didn't say they were easy to work! My granddaddy used to work them from horseback with a 20' bull whip.(that's were the term cracker came from).Man, at 20' feet he could pick a tick off a dog's ear with that whip and never so much as draw a welp on the dog! We used drive stakes in ground and put salt, mineral and sulfur blocks on the stakes. That was it! No shots, no worming not even feeding in the winter. We did try to get them through a dip vat once a year. My job was to make sure there heads went under. They did great and cattlemen actually made money in those days!

You should double check 20' whip deal. I could see it getting popped but it wouldn't be much for everyday use. 16' is the biggest I ever heard of and that was nearly useless from the back of a horse in woods.

Good catch D.R. I use a 12 foot. If you get much longer than that it becomes to unmanageable to be useful. I also have an 8 footer that I use in the pen. I can crack much longer ones but they are just for show not work.

;-)

 

[norriscathy]

Maybe! To a 10 year old fifty years ago it looked like 40 feet!! He tried to teach me how to use it but all I could do was pop myself in the back of the head!!! A bucket of feed and steel corrals work much better!

 

[flaboy+]

Maybe! To a 10 year old fifty years ago it looked like 40 feet!! He tried to teach me how to use it but all I could do was pop myself in the back of the head!!! A bucket of feed and steel corrals work much better!

Just pulling your chain as usual. ;-) I too am sure some of my memories as a child are exaggerated. I think the longest I have ever cracked was 16 feet. Feels like a lead weight and you have to be real patient with that length.

 

[norriscathy]

Wonder what kind of cattle JudyL deceided on? Haven't heard anything out of her, she probably just gave up!

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Maybe! To a 10 year old fifty years ago it looked like 40 feet!! He tried to teach me how to use it but all I could do was pop myself in the back of the head!!! A bucket of feed and steel corrals work much better!

I learned to pop several years ago. I can still remember leaving chunks of my own hide on the popper. And that horse would never let me pop again without side steppin. Nowadays I use a 12'. Seams to be the most versatile and still gives a good crack. Even still the 12' is a bit long inthe cowpens or brush.

 

[jp]

where are all you long horn guys? I'm sure they'd do just fine on those pine needles, yes I'm being serious, jp

 

[flaboy+]

I learned to pop several years ago. I can still remember leaving chunks of my own hide on the popper. And that horse would never let me pop again without side steppin. Nowadays I use a 12'. Seams to be the most versatile and still gives a good crack. Even still the 12' is a bit long inthe cowpens or brush.

That is how we used to break our horses for shooting off of. It was easier to hang on to a whip than a gun and a lot safer. Learning to crack a whip on a horse is not a good idea though. You want to make sure you don't hit the horse or you will have problems for a long time.

I now use a Florida cow whip. I have a guy in GA that makes them for me out of parachute cord so they don't rot and if they get soft just dip them in paraffin again.

 

[ffscj]

Flaboy,

Wouldn't happen to be Rhett would it?

Chris

 

[norriscathy]

Maybe! To a 10 year old fifty years ago it looked like 40 feet!! He tried to teach me how to use it but all I could do was pop myself in the back of the head!!! A bucket of feed and steel corrals work much better!

I learned to pop several years ago. I can still remember leaving chunks of my own hide on the popper. And that horse would never let me pop again without side steppin. Nowadays I use a 12'. Seams to be the most versatile and still gives a good crack. Even still the 12' is a bit long inthe cowpens or brush.

Glad to see that some of yall are still around! Thought all the "Crackers" had long since gone. When I left Florida it had the third largest cow herd in the nation (Texas was 4th or 5th). I hate to even go back for visits now. All the cows gone and the orange groves a tenth of their original size. Proud to see there are still a few of you left!

 

[flaboy+]

Flaboy,

Wouldn't happen to be Rhett would it?

Chris

Yep, it's Rhett. He makes a great whip. I haven't seen the kind of quality work he does on a whip since the 60's. I was skeptical at first about the cord but I will tell you, looks and feels as good if not better than a leather whip. I own three of his whips. Now if you are into that show stuff you have to go with the Kangaroo whips out of Australia.

 

[flaboy+]

Glad to see that some of yall are still around! Thought all the "Crackers" had long since gone. When I left Florida it had the third largest cow herd in the nation (Texas was 4th or 5th). I hate to even go back for visits now. All the cows gone and the orange groves a tenth of their original size. Proud to see there are still a few of you left!

There are still a few of us old crackers around. You are right though cattle industry and fruit industries are shrinking here. I think they are selling out to the yanks to build on, taking their millions and moving out west somewhere.

Don't know how much longer we can hold out though. I have actually considered selling and moving up to GA if I could find a decent spread up there.

 

[Crowderfarms]

The 51st State could have been easily formed. It would have been called "Florageorgiabama" Giant circular saw that cut everything North of Lake Okeechobee, and let the rest float South to Cuba.I've said it before, but a State with beauty from Cypress, to Oak, to Pines and prairies was allowed to be raped, pilfered, molested, drained all over greed and warm weather.Yankees that have thought before us Southerners were a bunch of dumb folks, and an unfortunate geographical location, where immigration by sea is unstoppable.My Mother's side hailed from Ga. and North Fla. so I'm not oblivious to the plight of the Cracker people.My Grandaddy and Grandmother were one of them down there.I get a kick out of John Anderson, and his song "Seminole Wind" Ol' John lives about 65 miles from here, he was from Apopka, Fl. He was smart and got his self out, and came up here, years ago.

 

[norriscathy]

The 51st State could have been easily formed. It would have been called "Florageorgiabama" Giant circular saw that cut everything North of Lake Okeechobee, and let the rest float South to Cuba.I've said it before, but a State with beauty from Cypress, to Oak, to Pines and prairies was allowed to be raped, pilfered, molested, drained all over greed and warm weather.Yankees that have thought before us Southerners were a bunch of dumb folks, and an unfortunate geographical location, where immigration by sea is unstoppable.My Mother's side hailed from Ga. and North Fla. so I'm not oblivious to the plight of the Cracker people.My Grandaddy and Grandmother were one of them down there.I get a kick out of John Anderson, and his song "Seminole Wind" Ol' John lives about 65 miles from here, he was from Apopka, Fl. He was smart and got his self out, and came up here, years ago.

You have now really pulled my chain!! I have eight generations of my family buried at the intersection of I-10 and I-75! Used to be a quite & peaceful place among the giant live oak trees. Now nothing but cars and trucks roaring by. We used to have an old family swimming hole that was clear as cyrstal and cold as ice. Hard to get to down that old dirt road but once you got there you found two hugh oak trees; one for the boys to change behind and one for the girls! Got married and took my wife back to the swimming hole twenty years later. The dirt road had been paved and the two oak trees had been replaced by a concrete block house! So many people that the killed all the grass and the white limestone spring was now black with dirt from the run off. Took my kids back 20 years later. Couldn't even get to the springs; it was now a state park with an elevated walkway with Park Rangers showing the sights. What has happened to my Florida????????????????

 

[flaboy+]

Yeah, we used to have a swimming hole like that. Me and a buddy would ride our horses out there to go swimming. It was pretty much a clothing optional pond so we just took our clothes off and went in unless there happened to be a family with kids there.

Here's one for ya. We rode up one day and there were five girls there who had made it back in the woods using a Jeep. I rode up on my horse and gathered their clothes off of the back of the Jeep. Sure was fun watching them come out to get their clothes. They repaid me a few weeks later.

 

[norriscathy]

Oh well! We can't refight the War of Northern Aggression (you do know Tallahassee was the only state capital not to fall?); nor can we uninvent air conditioning (yankees couldn't handle the real climate). Guess we'll just have to move on and do the best we can!

Sounds like we're writting the lyrics for a new John Anderson song! Think he'll pay us any royalties?

 

[flaboy+]

Well Cathy, I am going to fight tooth and nail until I either die or move out. I do have some plans to help slow them down.

1. Use all of Crowder's X's for road blocks on I-95 and I-75.
2. The first billboard you see entering the state will say "Get your Snow Bird Ammo at the next exit".
3. The second one will say "Snow Birds are considered nuisance critters and can be hunted year round.
4. I'm trying to get a law passed that states if you are not a natural born Floridian you cannot purchase property in what used to be "this fine state".
5. Try to get Crowder elected as President. ;-)

 

[MikeC]

Well Cathy, I am going to fight tooth and nail until I either die or move out. I do have some plans to help slow them down.

1. Use all of Crowder's X's for road blocks on I-95 and I-75.
2. The first billboard you see entering the state will say "Get your Snow Bird Ammo at the next exit".
3. The second one will say "Snow Birds are considered nuisance critters and can be hunted year round.
4. I'm trying to get a law passed that states if you are not a natural born Floridian you cannot purchase property in what used to be "this fine state".
5. Try to get Crowder elected as President. ;-)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Well Cathy, I am going to fight tooth and nail until I either die or move out. I do have some plans to help slow them down.

1. Use all of Crowder's X's for road blocks on I-95 and I-75.
2. The first billboard you see entering the state will say "Get your Snow Bird Ammo at the next exit".
3. The second one will say "Snow Birds are considered nuisance critters and can be hunted year round.
4. I'm trying to get a law passed that states if you are not a natural born Floridian you cannot purchase property in what used to be "this fine state".
5. Try to get Crowder elected as President. ;-)

Wish i could help flaboy too busy campaigning for the hagg. maybe if one drops out of the race :cboy: