Little Red safe back at home

Many of you followed the saga and knew of the lost little red heifer without knowing us. It seemed the entire town (including outlying communities) knew about Little Red. Some of you know us from our goat yoga, but our segue into offering other public outreach activities and opening the ranch to the public has been a long process.

This particular little animal is very special to us and we're very grateful to hear her "mooing" back on the ranch. She's quite the character and expresses herself readily. Very much like a 600+ pound dog.

I'd worked toward starting our journey into cattle for so long, saving up to purchase our first (which was Little Red) "registered" and in the color and parameters I was looking for. It had been such a journey with so much time and training put into her. Building a relationship with an animal takes time, patience and a combination of luck and skill, which added to the hard hit it was to lose her.

You always see in magazines on homesteading, hobby farms and farming/ranching, how "easy" and "simple" it is for the families featured. If or when they do touch on the hardships, it's done in such a way, the reader still concludes how easy it all is with very little challenge! I will openly tell you it's the most challenging thing we've ever taken on. It's full of hardship, heartbreak and set-backs. It's also the most-rewarding, awe-inspiring and worthy endeavor.

Most stories don't have a happy ending when livestock go missing. When we got a call from good friend, Diana Palmer, her opening line was something to the effect of "bring your trailer." Which I found very confusing because I wasn't looking to get another horse...but when she said it was our girl, I knew she had to be right ... as unbelievable as it was. If you know Diana (Oak Creek Wild Horses) you know Diana is a pro when it comes to identifying one animal from another (i.e., an entire herd of all black horses).

Sure enough, we get out there and just past the wild horse meadow, there's Little Red in cow utopia. A gorgeous green little meadow with water, tall grass and wild roses in the perfect idyllic setting. I wasn't sure she'd want to leave! But the power of cookies prevailed. Her recognition of "the cookie lady" (me) had a noticeable effect! She seemed genuinely happy to see me, which was a nice surprise to notice her behavior shift and readiness to interact.

Even without weeks of contact, she picked up right where we'd been with our training and followed to the trailer, eventually walking in and making the journey home. The fact that she travelled that many miles away and found the perfect haven is what I consider a blessing and that no harm came to her and she's been safely returned into the fold of our family. We wish to extend our gratitude to everyone who took the time to notice our search and help spread the word. We hope to share "Red" and all her friends with the public soon. You can subscribe to our email list for announcements of the projected opening at http://www.MullenaxRanch.com.