Dadanawa Ranch: Cattle, Horses, Sleep Outs and Round Ups

Cattle, Horses, Sleep Outs and Round Ups

3700 cattle, 180 horses give or take a few spread over 5000 square kilometers.  So horses and very important to find the cattle!  Horses are smaller than ours.  In the book written about the early history of the Dadanawa Ranch, a story is told of someone purchasing a large number of saddles in North America for the Ranch.  When the saddles arrived, they were much too large for the horses so could not be used. 

The first step in planning for a roundup of cattle is to round up some horses!  Early on we saw the vaqueros ‘breaking in’ a horse in the field, same way we would do at home except that the rider will be on the horse the next day for the round up! The picture is breaking in the horse (you probably can’t see the lead line). 

Vaqueros Breaking a Horse

Vaquero Joy Prepares to Mount Her Horse

 Horses are not shoed.  They seem to get along well fending for themselves on the sparse, dry savannah grasses.  Forced dieting!  So the day is set for the vaqueros to go out, the cook (Joy) prepares for cookout, the saddles are readied complete with lassoes.  They used to take saddle bags for their gear but now the RDC tractor loads the campout gear and travels to the spot where the trails split to different areas where the cattle are grazing. Joy is also a vaquero.  I was able to catch her just before she mounted her saddled horse heading out.  She said the ride back with the cattle once the cattle were rounded up would be at least 15 miles and they would likely arrive around lunch time the next day.  Joy, like other vaqueros, wears flip flops or goes barefoot for riding! 

 

 

 

Vaqueros and Riding Guests Prepare To Go On Round Up

Joy Prepares Cook Up In A Large Pot On An Open Fire for the Vaqueros

Horses and Vaqueros Often Camp Over Here

In wet season, creeks and rivers overflow their banks and the whole scene changes.  Dadanawa Ranch’s main area becomes an island.  Boats have to be used to cross the rivers and creeks.  The only way to get to the ranch is to be met on the other side!   What I can’t get over is the cattle take care of themselves when the rains come but the horses don’t have enough horse sense to get to high ground and have to be rescued or they drown!

Below is a photo of a painting in the store of cattle crossing the river with the vaqueros driving them to cross the river.  What a sight it must be.

Painting of Cattle Crossing The River.

 

These cattle basically survive on their own eating only grass with little to no intervention.  Amazing really.  They know where to find water, even in this very dry time and from there they identify the best (which at best is not good) grazing. 

Dry Season

 But, when missing from the inventory, it could be one of a number of reasons:  rustling, jaguar kill or wild in the bush (may appear in future), natural mortality, stolen, or otherwise.  One story:  the owner of a ranch adjacent to land that is part of the Dadanawa Ranch near Lethem died; when his daughter came to take over the operation of the ranch, all the cattle had been stolen!  The person telling the story pointed out that the border to Brazil is very close.

So, the next day around 11 we went with the RDC truck to see if we could see the cattle on the trail with the horses driving them in.   Allan was particularly interested to see the vaqueros in action.  We headed out to the area (anywhere in a two plus mile range) at an undefined time.  We looked for tracks, waited about an hour.   No luck so back to the ranch for lunch.  Precisely, as predicted, we could see them in the distance (about 100 of them) stirring up a good dust on the way to the corral.  We used the zoom lense on the camera and could see the vaqueros circling along-side and behind.  The cattle would now rest overnight in the corral and be worked with the next day.



Vaqueros Bring Cattle In To The Corral On Horseback



Oswald Ready To Record Number

Vaquero Closes The Squeeze To Hold Animal Back

Calves Are Separated Out To Ear Tag and Tattoo Older Ones

Joy Watches As Animal Comes Through For Sorting

In the corral, they aim to separate the calves for tattooing (ear), branding when they are old enough (their hide has to be good and thick), castrating bulls (ouch) and recording ID numbers to verify inventory. 

They usually work with the cattle later afternoon when it is a bit cooler (probably 35 instead of 40!).  They need lots of people.  Vaqueros to bring the cattle through the gate, a person to record the ID number of the animal and call as to which pen the animal will be directed into, a person to work the gate to hold the animal for identification (a particular tricky job as these animals have big horns and a mind of their own).    When the call is made and the gate is opened, the three people on the gates for the different pens have to be swift to open and close the right gates!  My goodness!  We were under the shade of a big tree in a specially made box right in the middle of it all.  Incredible action!

There is a lot of research on stress management for cattle.  We brought several excellent videos which Allan showed to the vaqueros, hoping to change the ‘hooping, hollering and scare tactics’ used to handle the cattle now into a low stress, easy handling situation.  The more the cattle are handled, the more they relax.  I will post a short video to bring this all to reality. 

Branding Irons Ready To Heat In The Fire



Preparing To Brand An Older Calf

Branding A Calf

Choosing A Young Bull To Be Castrated
 

These Are A Delicacy In Guyana! 

 

The vaqueros are very much looking forward to competing in the annual Easter rodeo at Lethem.  Prize money is good (over $100 US for each category).  The Dadanawa cattle will be driven to Lethem (that drive will take two plus days).  I understand after all of that the bulls that go will end up at the Lethem abattoir.   The vaqueros were very anxious to put on a little rodeo for us.  Seeing someone threaten their life on the back of a belted bucking bull will never be my entertainment choice!  Those who participate in this are young males, healthy and strong but their entire lives could be altered in one ride.

       

Presentation of Burdizzos

When one retires from beef farming, castration and tattooing equipment have little use.  So, despite the weight of the burdizzos, all was cleaned and shined and packed in Allan’s luggage.  Imagine the humor when our suitcases were lost and in Barbados we had to fill out a form listing any unusual ‘items’ in our luggage!   Guess ‘nut crackers’ would not be the term to fit!  At 7 pounds, they accounted for a good part of our overweight luggage.



Yolanda and Olwald Receiving The Burdizzos from Allan

Following the mini rodeo and corral work, Allan presented the tattooing equipment and burdizzos to the Ranch.  Ranch Foreman, Oswald worked with a veterinarian in the Rupunini travelling from farm to farm and knows burdizzos well.  Oswald and Yolanda are practicing!  Right up until this presentation, all castrations were done using a knife!  A delicacy among the Amerindians they say! Oswald thanked Allan again and again.

Visit Dadanawa Ranch on utube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKEdBKwqD1M