Dude Ranch by Bonnie Bryant Page B

crest of a gentle hill. Stevie was expecting to spot their quarry as soon as they reached the top, but it was farther than she thought. The cattle were beyond the
next
hill. But they were there. She could feel her own heart beat a little faster with the excitement.
    Sometimes, in old cowboy movies, she’d seen eager cowboys come galloping up to a herd of cattle to get them moving, but Eli had made it clear that nobody,
but nobody
, was to gallop up to the herd. What could happen was about the most dangerous thing there was. If the cattle were startled by a galloping horse, they could stampede. A stampede might seem like a neat piece of action on a movie screen, but in real life it could be very dangerous. The frightened cattle would run any way they could, without thinking about it at all. Stampeding cattle ran over each other; they ran into horses; they could even run off cliffs.
    Eli’s horse slowed to a very gentle walk as they rounded the next hill.
    There, in a little valley formed by small hills and fed by a fresh stream, more than a hundred head of cattle were grazing contentedly. A few of them lifted theirheads from the grass to eye the riders, but they quickly returned their attention to the grass in front of them.
    “Oh, look!” Lisa said. The girls gazed where she pointed. There, at the edge of the herd, was a small group, grazing a little distance apart from the others. There were about seven very young calves, and their mothers.
    “I guess that’s the day-care center,” Carole quipped.
    As Eli had instructed them, all of the riders circled to the far side of the herd. Then, at Eli’s signal, they began walking slowly and easily, interrupting the lazy grazing of the cattle. As the riders passed the cattle, they lifted their heads from the grass and began walking away from the horses. As soon as a few started moving, the rest quickly joined them, first walking very slowly, and then picking up their pace. As Kate had predicted, the loud mooing began almost immediately.
    Eli wanted the herd to return the same way the riders had come. He and Jeff moved back and forth on horseback, almost effortlessly, keeping the cattle going in the right direction. In contrast to the easy pace of the horses, Eli’s dog moved quickly, dodging to the left and to the right, growling occasionally at a steer who might, for a moment, think he ought to head in some other direction.
    Kate’s father had circled to the near side of the pack, leading the herd. “Once a steer decides he wants tofollow something, almost nothing will make him change his mind,” Eli had told the girls earlier. “The trick is to get him to want to follow a horse.”
    The cattle were following Frank docilely.
    The herd began moving a little more quickly once the leaders had rounded the first hill and they could see open land in front of them. The girls’ horses automatically kept pace with the cattle. Stevie, knowing that Stewball could outrun any steer in the herd (and any other horse, as well), wasn’t concerned about being left behind. But she was still relieved that the herd seemed to have reached a steady pace.
    “This is
fun
,” Lisa remarked, pulling up next to her. “Don’t you think so?”
    “I sure do,” Stevie agreed. “I’ve never done anything like this. Can you believe the horses and the dog?”
    “Incredible!” Carole exclaimed. “We’re used to horses you have to control at every move. Even though you still have to control these horses as far as riding is concerned, when it comes to herding, I’m beginning to get the feeling they could do this without us.”
    “Hey! Dudes!” It was Eli, calling the girls. “Watch out for that little ’un over there!” He was pointing to their left. They looked to see a small calf, limping along. Its mother was nudging the baby from behind, but the calf appeared to have injured his leg, making it difficult for him to keep up with the rest of the herd.Lisa stayed with the herd. Carole and