Promoted to ranch hand

When I visited the 7MSN ranch for the first time last March, I was wined, dined, entertained and treated like a royal guest. This was an incredibly wonderful and amazing experience, but I really hoped to help out a bit during my trip this time.

I am proud and pleased to say that my request was granted and I am now an official 7MSN ranch hand!

What does being a 7MSN ranch hand entail, you ask? Well....

It means helping out when one of the big animals needs to go to his annual vet check-up. Yesterday, it was handsome Hank's turn:

As a ranch hand, I got a back stage pass (and a lead vest):

to observe the x-rays being done on Hank's knee:

Fortunately, neither Carson nor I are either one of these:

Hank makes friends everywhere he goes, even at the vet clinic...:

But he was very happy to get back to the ranch that afternoon:

Today turned out to be the most productive day yet for this visiting ranch hand. George, Alan and Lucy needed shots and to have their ears de-ticked:

Lucy is a star and took shot and tick spray as if it was no big thing:

George and Alan needed a bit more convincing, but - in the end - did an excellent job being poked with needles and having smelly tick liquid squirted into their ears:

And then, well, then there was Eugenia, one of Carson's four hens:

This girl is smart and she is naughty and she has no fear.
(She's also completely obsessed with water, but that's a post for another time:)

Yes, she is jumping up to try to drink water from a hose that hasn't been turned on yet:

I've got a big ol' soft spot for her like you wouldn't believe:

The problem is, Eugenia has figured out how to jump over the fence between chicken coop and Wynonna pen:

And has taken to standing on Wynonna's back and otherwise bothering the poor girl:

This simply won't do.

This beautiful fence is just a titch too short for a jumping chicken who has added travelling to her hobbies:

So, we decided today was the day to take care of this:

This was my value-add:

...providing weight where weight was needed:

Look how much I trust my friend:

Here's me, striking a dainty pose while Carson saws around my feet (I'm like the magician's assistant!):

And she didn't cut or hammer me a single time!

Start to finish, it took us a little over three hours:

Here's the ranch hand again providing weight where weight was needed:

Yeah, yeah...enjoy that one last hop-over, Eugenia, the final fence panel is about to go up:

Fence before:

Fence after:

Upon completion, we high-fived:

and "clinked" beers:

It's seriously awesome being a 7MSN ranch hand!