old age

[bigbull338]

well we all get older and slower.im realizing that the older i get.caught a big 600lb bull calf im going to raise.so nephew says he is in the corral.lets go halter him and lead him to a corral down the road where another bull calf is.so we tie to the ATV i start slowly well he has just enough room to whip around on my right side.in doing that he severly rope burns my arm from the wrist to the elbow.so nephew gets the tractor and leads him to the pen in granny gear.where he feeds and waters him leaving him tied to the tractor till the next morning.so the next morning i go to the minor clinic and have my arm doctored and wrapped.doctoring and rewapping it everyday.

 

[TexasBred]

well we all get older and slower.im realizing that the older i get.caught a big 600lb bull calf im going to raise.so nephew says he is in the corral.lets go halter him and lead him to a corral down the road where another bull calf is.so we tie to the ATV i start slowly well he has just enough room to whip around on my right side.in doing that he severly rope burns my arm from the wrist to the elbow.so nephew gets the tractor and leads him to the pen in granny gear.where he feeds and waters him leaving him tied to the tractor till the next morning.so the next morning i go to the minor clinic and have my arm doctored and wrapped.doctoring and rewapping it everyday.

Careful there "Old Man". Sometimes we forget we're not young and full of vim and vigor anymore. Glad all you got was some rope burns.

 

[Kingfisher]

Ouch! Don't let it get infected.

 

[bigbull338]

ive got some family that says i need to sell out sitt down and quit.but i wont ever do that because ive seen what happens to some that do that.im keeping it wrapped and antibotic cream on it.done gone through 2 lil tubes so far.friends saw it and thought it was a holloween joke and i said no its real.

 

[Margonme]

Take care of that. Some bad infections get started like that. Some of the staphylococcus strains are hard to control and cause a lot of damage.

PS: I am breaking calves to halter. I am 66. It is not easy and I am in better shape than most my age. If they are over 300 pounds before I start the training, I usually don't get the job done. I like to start at no more than 200 pounds.

 

[greybeard]

Decades ago, I watched my father rope and try to lead a cow from his 8n tractor. When it was all over, fenders were bent, lights ripped off,battery lid tore off, throttle jerked to full rpm and he was bruised and beat up pretty good from where she went around and the rope pinned him to the right rear fender. Dang lucky it didn't force him off the seat to the rear.
As dun says...'Old age ain't for wimps'

 

[Caustic Burno]

Decades ago, I watched my father rope and try to lead a cow from his 8n tractor. When it was all over, fenders were bent, lights ripped off,battery lid tore off, throttle jerked to full rpm and he was bruised and beat up pretty good from where she went around and the rope pinned him to the right rear fender. Dang lucky it didn't force him off the seat to the rear.
As dun says...'Old age ain't for wimps'

Yea but we can't quit cause that is when we die.

 

[Bigfoot]

Boom pole is an excellent attachment for cow draggin.

 

[bigbull338]

CB thats why i wont quit.my body has slowed me down enough as it is.i told the nephew it wouldnt work.but he is young and hasnt learned yet.just last week he was penning some on his vcows.1 went off on him and put him 15ft in the air.cut his arm real deep at the bend of the elbow.when he came down it was into a barbed wire fence.bigfoot a 7040 with hay forks on the rear does the samething.

 

[crossbredcalves]

My grandpa is in his early 80's. Until about six years ago, he has always worked. At different points, he was a row-crop farmer, trained horses, managed cattle, and drove a bus. About six years ago, he decided to completely retire and just enjoy life. He has not really been well since. He has been sick numerous times, and his body is giving out on him. Working gave him purpose and kept him going. Retirement did nothing for him.

 

[Margonme]

My grandpa is in his early 80's. Until about six years ago, he has always worked. At different points, he was a row-crop farmer, trained horses, managed cattle, and drove a bus. About six years ago, he decided to completely retire and just enjoy life. He has not really been well since. He has been sick numerous times, and his body is giving out on him. Working gave him purpose and kept him going. Retirement did nothing for him.

Retirement is not what we think it will be. There are more negatives than positives for most people. Let me list some onservations:
1. It is difficult to maintain a schedule.
2. Without structure, I am less efficient
3. Age diminishes your capabilities
4. Everything gets more difficult
5. If you don't have obligations to others, you procrastinate more
6. Motivation diminishes
7. The are fewer personal relationships
8. Remember, more doors are closing to you. During your youth, new doors are ahead of you.
9. You start getting into the, " well, why do that, I am near the end" syndrome.
10. Working is not a bad life. Odd that we have to retire to realize that!

 

[regolith]

My grandpa is in his early 80's. Until about six years ago, he has always worked. At different points, he was a row-crop farmer, trained horses, managed cattle, and drove a bus. About six years ago, he decided to completely retire and just enjoy life. He has not really been well since. He has been sick numerous times, and his body is giving out on him. Working gave him purpose and kept him going. Retirement did nothing for him.

Retirement is not what we think it will be. There are more negatives than positives for most people. Let me list some onservations:
1. It is difficult to maintain a schedule.
2. Without structure, I am less efficient
3. Age diminishes your capabilities
4. Everything gets more difficult
5. If you don't have obligations to others, you procrastinate more
6. Motivation diminishes
7. The are fewer personal relationships
8. Remember, more doors are closing to you. During your youth, new doors are ahead of you.
9. You start getting into the, " well, why do that, I am near the end" syndrome.
10. Working is not a bad life. Odd that we have to retire to realize that!

That's good observation.
Must be in the air, because I scrolled past a pic of someone dressed up for Halloween the other day including fake blood and I was like - that looks like me! Healing up okay from an impromptu meeting with concrete
but I was following my dog home in the dark at the end of milking last night, it was misty rain, I was cold, wet, them bruises were aching I'd been working flat out for several hours and hadn't had time to eat again since about nine hours earlier and could just see the white patches on my dog's feet, head and tail glimmering in front of me in the dark as she danced home
and I thought - you know what, I'm happy.
Way happier than I'd be sitting on a sofa watching the bruising turn funny colours and fade while someone else did the work.

 

[Margonme]

My grandpa is in his early 80's. Until about six years ago, he has always worked. At different points, he was a row-crop farmer, trained horses, managed cattle, and drove a bus. About six years ago, he decided to completely retire and just enjoy life. He has not really been well since. He has been sick numerous times, and his body is giving out on him. Working gave him purpose and kept him going. Retirement did nothing for him.

Retirement is not what we think it will be. There are more negatives than positives for most people. Let me list some onservations:
1. It is difficult to maintain a schedule.
2. Without structure, I am less efficient
3. Age diminishes your capabilities
4. Everything gets more difficult
5. If you don't have obligations to others, you procrastinate more
6. Motivation diminishes
7. The are fewer personal relationships
8. Remember, more doors are closing to you. During your youth, new doors are ahead of you.
9. You start getting into the, " well, why do that, I am near the end" syndrome.
10. Working is not a bad life. Odd that we have to retire to realize that!

That's good observation.
Must be in the air, because I scrolled past a pic of someone dressed up for Halloween the other day including fake blood and I was like - that looks like me! Healing up okay from an impromptu meeting with concrete
but I was following my dog home in the dark at the end of milking last night, it was misty rain, I was cold, wet, them bruises were aching I'd been working flat out for several hours and hadn't had time to eat again since about nine hours earlier and could just see the white patches on my dog's feet, head and tail glimmering in front of me in the dark as she danced home
and I thought - you know what, I'm happy.
Way happier than I'd be sitting on a sofa watching the bruising turn funny colours and fade while someone else did the work.

;-)

 

[john250]

I had a new born bull calf walk all over me when Iwas 20 years younger. Too take on a 600 pounder is just ...

 

[hurleyjd]

My grandpa is in his early 80's. Until about six years ago, he has always worked. At different points, he was a row-crop farmer, trained horses, managed cattle, and drove a bus. About six years ago, he decided to completely retire and just enjoy life. He has not really been well since. He has been sick numerous times, and his body is giving out on him. Working gave him purpose and kept him going. Retirement did nothing for him.

Retirement is not what we think it will be. There are more negatives than positives for most people. Let me list some onservations:
1. It is difficult to maintain a schedule.
2. Without structure, I am less efficient
3. Age diminishes your capabilities
4. Everything gets more difficult
5. If you don't have obligations to others, you procrastinate more
6. Motivation diminishes
7. The are fewer personal relationships
8. Remember, more doors are closing to you. During your youth, new doors are ahead of you.
9. You start getting into the, " well, why do that, I am near the end" syndrome.
10. Working is not a bad life. Odd that we have to retire to realize that!

I suspect we are getting like the blind mule a mule trader was trying to sell. Prospective buyer shows up to look at the mule. The mule trader turns the mule out and it immediately runs into the fence and then ricochets of of a china berry tree and right into the side of the barn. The prospective buyer says I think that mule may be blind. The mule trader said Naw! that mule just not give a d-mn.

 

[Nesikep]

I do think you gotta keep active.. and if you retire, you gotta retire INTO something, not FROM something

When it comes to halter breaking, I do like to start early as well.. If I can just get them to have a halter on for a couple weeks and drag a rope on the ground when they're a month old, it makes a big difference later.. I don't keep anything with an attitude anymore, so at least I got that out of the way, the rest of them are a bunch of sucks for attention, so it's not hard to get them haltered after that.. a little fight to begin with and they usually figure out I lead them to better pasture, so they're OK with it.

I once had my mean old witch of a cow break back into the corrals at weaning time.. I suckered her and got the lariat on and towed her behind the tractor for a 1/2 mile back to the rest of the herd.. Me, the tractor, her.. all covered in slobber!
Did the same with a couple stupid calves last year, except it was behind the garden tractor.. dang they were stubborn!! I swear I nearly wore their hooves off dragging them the whole way

 

[Caustic Burno]

I did retire into something problem with that was Father Time shoots DNA bullets with your name on them.
You have to remain active I agree but the activity level sure changes every time that first digit on your birthday changes.
This is the first time I can't remember bow hunting in 48 years.

 

[Nesikep]

I'm a lot younger, but I sure notice the decades adding up too.. not looking forward to having wisdom and unable to use it

 

[bigbull338]

all of my friends think im crazy for still doing some wild stuff from time to time.im lucky in that i havent broken any bones yet and i hope i dont.

 

[GMN]

I know I'm feeling it! Funny how it creeps up on ya