Legend of the "Cow Trippers"

When I first saw those little fences in "Indian Draw" I always wondered why they would put a fence in the middle of a pasture and then make them so small. They are too tiny to keep cattle in because I've seen a cow step right over the top of them without even giving them a second look.

I had always kept this question in the back of my mind and then one day I came across an old Mexican cow hand who was working cattle in this area. I asked him in my best Spanish (which wasn't too great at this particular time in my career) why put such tiny fences in such a far away place? He must have understood my question because he started rattling off in his native language and it took all of my abilities to grasp the following story:

He explained that in the "old" days before there were all these people living in the area, and before the "rodeo" was created, the cowboys working cattle became bored and made themselves a little game. They would chase the cows around the pasture and see who could herd them the best. This obviously became boring after a while so one of the "vaqueros" who had a sick sense of humor got the great idea to build one of these fences. When he chased his cows through the pasture he would always direct them towards the little fence that he had built. Often the fence was hidden by the underbrush and other times the cow he was chasing was to busy looking back over his shoulder at this crazed cowboy to be paying attention to what was in front of him. The poor animal would not see the fence and would be "tripped" in the process.

After a while the other cowboys would start chasing their cows towards this fence and then the "vaquero" with the poor sense of humor built several fences and started chasing his cow from one fence to another. He organized the others and they also began to chase their cows from one fence to the other. They would bet so much money for each cow that was tripped on a fence and they were penalized for those fences that the cow would miss. I could never figure out what would happen if one of the cows became hurt (I think they made themselves dinner). I patrol this area quite often and sometimes I think I can see some fresh sign where a cow had tripped over the fence but I it must have been a random act since they no longer continue this practice and have since placed their time and energy into the rodeo scene.

I've thought back upon this conversation that I had with the cowboy and I can swear that this is what he said to me on that particular afternoon. At least it is what I thought he told me because like I had mentioned before, my Spanish was in the developmental stage and he didn't speak any English. I always think back on this day and I wonder if this old cowboy was feedin' me a whole lot of "bull". Quien Sabe?

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