Spring had always been a very busy time of year for struggling cattle rancher Henry McBride and his family, and that year had been no exception. It started in late January with the beginning of calving season, the time of year most cattlemen look forward to and dread at the same time. Calving season, by its very nature, brings new life to a working cattle ranch, and new life always offers new beginnings. No matter how good or bad the previous year was, once the babies start arriving the opportunities for improvement in the New Year always look just a little better.

Many ranchers also dread calving season for one of the reasons Henry was dreading it this year. Any other year Henry’s herd would have consisted mostly of older cows, all with many years of calving behind them. In those years he wouldn’t have needed to be so watchful and diligent about helping the cows calve. However, the summer before, a large number of those older, trustworthy cows died during a freak lightning strike in the high meadow. Many of the older cows that survived the initial strike would ultimately need to be destroyed later due to their internal injuries. Because of that one unfortunate mishap, the majority of Henry’s herd this year was made up of first time mothers who almost always needed more looking after than the older, more experienced cows would.

Luckily, by mid March calving was over, just in time for the six mares to start having their foals. About that time a series of spring storms started pushing up the valley, accompanied by bone-chilling winds and dumping freezing rain and snow on everything in sight. Knowing the mares were close to foaling, Henry brought them all up to the old wooden barn, a sort of landmark in the area, which had been built in the late 1800’s by the original owners of the place. There he put the mares all in separate box stalls he had constructed over the years and spent many more a sleepless night slogging his way from the house, through the rain and muck, to check on them.

By April, all but one of the mares had foaled and had been turned out into the lower pasture where the new spring grass was starting to come up. The last mare to have her baby was, again, a first-time mother and seemed to be holding on to her foal like it was gold. The good news was by now the weather had started settling down a bit, and although he probably would have been fine turning the mare out with the others, Henry chose to keep her in the barn at night so he could check on her.

Henry was a lifelong stockman and took great pride in the health and well being of his animals, particularly during calving and foaling season. This, even at the constant ribbing of a number of his neighbors who were more of a mind that animals should be prepared to take care of themselves during such times, not be pampered and coddled. Of course, for the most part, Henry agreed. Animals should be able to take care of themselves. And he was more than willing to let them, once they were on the ground and healthy. It was just that he didn’t want to lose any stock for want of paying attention.