A 3 point Landing or how Pirate caused my downfall!

Henry Moje - Sheep Farmer & Lion Tamer!

My late Father in Law, Henry Moje from Waipu was a sheep farmer and one of his memorable sayings was "Farming would be great if it wasn't for the Animals!" Henry was a quiet unassuming fellow, but he had a dry wit and he was an excellent stockman who worked his entire life on farms and was an inspiration to all his family and I often think of the memorable times we shared. Henry seemed to spend an awful amount of time repairing fences in his retirement years and he would often be away from the house for hours, not returning to the house until late afternoon.

I didn't realise how important maintaining secure fencing around a property was, until I bought our own lifestyle block and over the past 20 odd years, my Wife Lyn and I have spent a considerable amount of time replacing damaged fence battens and repairing broken electric tapes and wires on our property. Our animals get quite large over time and after they have leaned on a fence to get that "delicious piece of grass on the other side of the fence" the fence sometimes break and repairs are necessary. Our border fences are five wire high and the internal fences are controlled by an electric current that sends alternating pulses throughout the system. (Well that is if we remember to switch them on at the controller!) The Heifers become very wary of getting a shock and in some cases, even if the reel comes off the fence and is laying on the ground, they will not cross over the tape, which is white and easily identifiable.

A Lone Pirate

Except for our "Pirate"! This is the heifer I wrote about in a previous blog who had to have surgery to remove an eye after getting an infection as a calf. She has coped extremely well and is now equally as large as the remaining 11 animals. In recent years we have tried to keep the stock away from our boundary river and I have erected a series of boundary tapes to keep them contained. So far we have only had the odd incident where stock have breached the tapes and we allow the stock to graze the area around our dam, which would become a weed infected eyesore otherwise. I have heard that even string can be used in an emergency, but my lot always seem to know when the fence isn't connected properly!

Pinnochio & Innocent Friends

Somehow, sometime, during the day, somebody managed to open the large metal gate and 11 happy heifers gained access to the forbidden area. Lyn and I rushed over to try and herd them back through the entrance and away from the danger area, but just as we were gaining control, the wind blew the gate half shut. The herd then turned around and tried to run back, so we had to run towards them and hopefully turn them back again. I didn't see the Totara tree branch hidden in the grass and the next second I was doing a heavy three point landing (my two knees and my nose!) I lay on the grass momentarily stunned and realised that I had also damaged my hand on the tree and was bleeding profusely. Lyn rushed over to help me and was worried that the galloping herd would run right over the top of me. They suddenly stopped about 10 metres away and according to Lyn almost looked as if they were concerned at my welfare. Once I got back on my feet we quietly turned them around and they calmly went back through the gate. I hobbled home and spent the rest of the day on my LazyBoy chair!

Maybe a rest after all that excitement!

It took a number of days before I could use my right arm and shaving or combing my hair was a painful experience and light duties prevailed. Yesterday, Pirate got tangled in the newly erected fence and demolished it before we could get her out.

Today, the whole herd have been moved to a safe paddock with double wire surrounds! Lesson Learnt!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Today, the neighbours calves managed to get out of their paddock, cross over a supposedly safely wired off culvert and are now grazing our paddocks. Reminds me of the old saying "Rust Never Sleeps!"