The therapy bull
For a myriad of reasons, things have been a little stressful around here lately. Mostly small stuff that adds up, you know?
Getting my son back to boarding school this week was among the things that have made me less zen than I normally am. I miss him like crazy while he is away, and he contacts us twice a day (to reassure me I suspect) and we both put on a brave face as he prepared to go back this term. He has some great teachers, boarding masters and wonderful mates there already, which definitely helps ease the pain…
Our internet here has also been playing up badly – I am working (mostly behind the scenes) to work out why we are having such trouble but it has been so bad I have not even been able to send emails. All bill payments, blogging and social media activity has been done in town (100km round trip away). I have to admit, it’s incredibly isolating in this day and age (when pretty much everything is based on internet access) to have yours ‘shaped’ or ‘stopped’.
I know I am not alone, and I am very lucky to have great contacts/mates who are chasing answers (and already have some results) for me. But the stress when you cannot message your son, online or via email, added to my tension.
And while others find their therapy in yoga or boxing or mediation, I find mine in bulls. Yep, I am completely serious! Allow me to illustrate…
Among my roles here in our beef cattle business is taking photos of bulls. Some are for clients, some for marketing, and some for you! (Ha!)
I was doing the first of these jobs, at a paddock about 15km from the house the other day, when I spotted this bloke…
Now I don’t expect you to memorise every bull we have here – but this guy has always been a bit special.
It’s Bimbadeen Graphite – a beautiful boy who has been an eye-catcher since he was born (and has amazing genetic markers for marbling and tenderness too!).
He was grazing in the catchment near a half-empty dam… where the sweet grass grows!
(It’s all about the food and the females when you are a bull).
And as I got close, and the other working-age bulls moved away, Graphite didn’t. He just kinda… waited. And posed… and waited a bit more.
I knew what he was waiting for…
This…
A scratch and a cuddle…
You know he wants to appear all tough and macho with the other bulls around, but they were facing the other way and missed his SNAG moments.
How quiet is this bull? Measuring his hoof against mine…
You know what (quiet) cattle adore even more than scratches around the tail area (where they cannot reach)???
Ear scratches. INSIDE the ear…
It’s bliss for them. An area they cannot get at which must feel heavenly… they seriously stand stock still when you do it and lean into you.
Of course all this patting and scratching and ear rubbing comes at a small cost.
The cleanliness of your hands!
A very small price to pay for the calmness interacting with this beautiful boy gives.
After fifteen minutes of attention (and I admit, chatting) Graphite decided he’d had enough human therapy.
And wandered off to be a tough guy again…
While I wandered off, tension eased and feeling my calm return.
#BullTherapy
😉
PS If you are in the same leaky ‘internet boat’ as me, check out this Facebook page.
Questions for you:
What do you use for therapy when the tension gets high?
Have you ever cuddled a bull?
7 Comments
Gretchen in KS
Firstly, I’m on the other side of the world, so my stats likely don’t help to inform your internet questions, but just in case, I am just semi-rural, and my internet is relatively stable, if not the fastest on earth. My facebook, on the other hand, has been glitchy as all get-out most of the week. I have no idea what that’s about.
For my own therapy, I tend to turn to books, though I’ve been known to find zen in some of the oddest places, including mowing, believe it or not.
I can’t say I’ve cuddled a bull, but we do have a steer, and he likes a pat and a scratch now and then. You have to pay attention to his mood, though, because sometimes he’s in the mood for tail-in-the-air, run-and-bounce-around, or butt-heads, knock-down, play-fight, for which I am NOT well equipped. Yes, he has head-butted me down into the weeds and rolled me around before. And me being not the most steady on my feet, it took me a good half hour to get back up, since every time I’d get almost up, he’d knock me back over again. No malice–if he’d wanted to injure me, I’d have had marks, or broken bones–but his notion of play and mine just don’t always align. My fault for not carrying a stick, I suppose.
Kelly
I am quite in awe of your bullish relationship. We only have one and he is SO big that he intimidates me to no end. In fact, none of our cattle are particularly “hands on”. Bully (yes, we’re so original) can make my heart race (not in a good way) just the way he looks at me sometimes (though my husband assures me he gentle enough). I do have a funny Bully/donkey story I must share with you sometime. 😉
Our only internet option is satellite and, while not very fast, is fairly dependable. I cuss it sometimes, but it certainly beats dialup!
Jigsaw puzzles. The best stress buster out there!
Kelly´s last blog post ..The sound of summer
BB of Oz
LOL Kelly – he is particularly gentle, this boy. They all have their own personalities. I think if they learn very early that humans are not scary to be around, it helps. The kids adore helping hand-feed my weaner bulls too – good for bulls AND kids!
🙂
Anne@GritandGiggles
I live in town and am also having problems since they put in the new internet cause I use a prepaid toggle and it is now a pain in the butt with the computer needing restarted every time the internet goes off and the internet just freezing and ugh. Maybe it is time to go get some real stuff. I hope your internet problems are solved soon. Love your form of therapy. Mine also involves getting out and photo taking, just no bull, but the weather here hasn’t been ideal for that. I do miss having bovines around though. I hope you are feeling better now after your bull therapy.
Anne@GritandGiggles´s last blog post ..Weir I went
debby
I have cuddled with a bullheaded man. Is it the same?
When I am feeling less than zen, I find that doing a nice thing for someone else is a sure fire pick me up.
CountryMum
The internet, or lack there of, has driven me crazy for years, but it has been the worst over the last 12 months. So much of business is now done over the internet, you are directed to use the internet for everything.
But my woes changed on Thursday. The NBN came to our little local town. I doubted whether we would be able to connect on our farm, but to my joy, a signal was picked up. I know this is no consolation to you, but if I can get it, and we are a long way from a city, there is hope for other rural areas.
CountryMum´s last blog post ..July 24, 2015
Ellie kennedy
I noticed this bull does not have a ring in his nose, do some of your bulls or cows have rings? This is a beautiful bull and seems to have won your heart.