Cody Price has been tending cattle in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for 10 years. The New Mexico cowboy’s job isn’t easy. The rugged canyons, steep hillsides, thick brush and hard-headed bovine make gathering cattle difficult.
Remnant yearling cattle can be the most troublesome. Whenever he has a handful of yearlings that have continually escaped the round up, Price lets the dogs out. His pack of Catahoulas and Black Mouth Curs are up to the task.
“Usually I take them with me when I’m expecting to catch a few cattle, 20 or less,” Price says.
Price rides behind Rose, Lilly, Bella, Daisy and Cloe, letting them sniff out the cattle and round them up on their own. When his dogs find them, they gather the cattle into a tight bunch. Shortly after, Price rides up and begins driving the cattle.
“By the time I catch up, they have wadded up the cattle and are holding them,” he says.
While driving the cattle, Price’s dogs swarm around the group like bees, barking, panting and keeping the herd shoulder to shoulder. Any cow that tries to break out is just asking for a whirlwind of teeth and tails.
“Getting to work my dogs is the biggest reason I come up here every summer,” Price says.
