I live in a county who’s economy is based on farming. There is no industry, no manufacturing, no tourists, very little construction and growth. Businesses in our small county are mostly serviced based; restaurants, hair salons, feed stores, grocery stores, dry cleaners and lawyers top the list. The biggest employer in the county is the school district. The job market is small and the rate of unemployment and under-employment high. I’ve seen it over and over. People move in, buy horses, build barns, fences, chicken coops and plant a garden. When their income dries up and they can’t find a job, they end up losing everything.

There are tricks to surviving in a rural setting. My husband, the cowboy, has mastered the art. Where other people starve, he thrives and puts money in the bank (or even a tin can in the ground).

The cowboy has always owned and always will own and heavy-duty pickup and a stock trailer. People who own cows and need them taken to market are a good source of income. If he wanted to, but he doesn’t, he could hang around the three local cow sales and pick up loads on sale days. People buy cows and need someone to haul them home.

Cattle hauling sounds easy. It’s not. Folks will buy a cow or two, and stick them out in the pasture with no thought of how they’re going to load the cow when they need to sell it. If you own cows, you better have cow pens and a chute. We’ve had impromptu rodeos when we’ve gone to load cows in these situations. Once, we ended up in a pasture with about 30 head of mama cows and calves. The owner had penned some bull calves he wanted to sell in a temporary round pen. Only problem was, one had escaped . . . you know it, the one we needed to haul. The cowboy roped the calf and started winching it into the trailer bawling and squawling. All the cows were freaking out. The mama cow was trying to save it. The situation was so hairy, the cow dogs were hiding under the trailer. They knew.

Another way the cowboy makes money is by training horses. We have at least one here for training all the time. This requires skill but can be quite lucrative if you know what you’re doing. The cowboy is also a horse shoer. He learned from his father and has been doing it since he was ten. This is another skilled job but if you have a way with horses and a strong back, it’s one which can be learned and there’s money in it.

At times, the husband has bought and sold many horses and cows. You need to learn about them to make this profitable, but mama cows make babies, calves can be sold, and if you haven’t invested too much money in feed and supplies, it’s profitable.

The cowboy also makes money doing daywork. Big cattle owners hire cowboys to gather their herd, castrate calves, worm, inoculate and part. Parting cows means separating the ones you want to keep from the ones you don’t. This often goes hand in hand with hauling. Living in the country is the best life there is. But you have to have a plan before you jump into it and a way to pay your bills. Good luck.

(The Cowboy trims Beau’s feet. Making a living in the country is hard. Make a plan before you jump in. Photo: Janet Schrader-Seccafico)

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About the author: Janet Schrader-Seccafico is a multi-published author with a new book out through ravenousromance.com called The Virgin Shifter under the pen name Melanie Thompson, another called The Secret, The Shifter, and Sex Slave Shanghai and one more under the pen name Janet Post called Alligator Gold available from amazon.com. A retired reporter, she lives on a ranch in North Florida with her cowboy husband, a fluctuating number of cows, six dogs, three horses and a cat. Check out her two websites: melaniethompsonauthor.com and floridacrackerwesterns.com.



Email: jschrade52@yahoo.com

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