Hereford Cows

An old-time rugged cowboy said he had learned life’s most important lesson from the ‘Hereford cows’. All his life he had worked at cattle ranches where the winter storms took a heavy toll among the herds. Freezing rains whipped across the prairies. Howling winds piled snow into enormous drifts. Temperatures might drop quickly to below-zero degrees. Flying ice cut into the flesh. In this maelstrom of nature’s violence, most cattle would turn their backs to the icy blasts and slowly drift windward, mile upon mile. Finally intercepted by a boundary fence, they would pile against the barrier and die by the scores.

But the ‘Herefords’ acted differently. Cattle of this breed would instinctively head into the windward end of the ranch. There they would stand shoulder to shoulder facing the storms blast, heads down against its onslaughts. ‘You most always found the Hereford alive and well,’ said the cowboy. ‘I guess that is the greatest lesson I ever learned on the prairies – just face life’s storms’.