Ty and I have worked at the sale barn in Lexington (this round) for about five years, him a little more and me a little less. We see all types of animals come through that place! Anything from horned cattle to Holsteins to heavy cull cows to high end feeder cattle.

I am going to be the first one to admit that I feel like I have got a deal or two on something that has come through the ring that may be a little odd, but still just fine. One time I bought two weaned Shorthorn heifers that brought $400 each! They ended up getting shown by the kids in 4H one year and are now on their second calves with us! I also bought a "Jersey/Simental" cross weaned heifer for $425 one year that I figured would make a heck of nurse cow! When transitioning my micro dairy to all A2/A2 cattle, I tested as many of my current dairy type cattle that I had. Just as this cow (Tracey) got close to calving her first year we got the results back, low and behold she was A2/A2!!! This blew my mind! Tracey is currently in the princess pen at the ranch getting milked right along with the rest of the spoiled girls and in my eyes worth quite the penny!

Things happen for a reason. Looking back on these situations shows me that even though it wasn't a planned buy and I probably really didn't have the money to buy them anyways, in the end they've had great outcomes!

Last Friday, one of those moments came up again! In the group of baby calves at the sale barn there was one that stood out to me! It wasn't because she was the best calf in the pen or because she looked healthier than all the others. It was because she struck me as a more mature or older calf then the rest in the pen... except she was smaller than all the newborn calves in there! It baffled me for a bit and when I went over to the fence to take a closer look she came right over to bawled at me. I stuck my hand out and she immediately latched on to my finger and started sucking like she was starving although she obviously hadn't been starved a day in her life!

This was all about a couple minute deal and then I was back to work. Ty knew I had been eyeballing her so when the calves went in to sell, he hollered over to me and alerted me that that calf was in the ring with the rest of them. I jumped off my mule and went to the auction block to watch what was going to unfold.

With absolutely no expectations in my mind to get this little calf bought that just kept following the ring men around as they sorted the 15 +/- calves as they sold out of the ring, this little girl was the last one left! The last calf is usually the least desired calf to be purchased on a typical day at the barn. She was small and by no means the type of calf any regular rancher would want to put on a cow to raise into a potential $2000+ calf... she would never turn into a prime animal at all. But, what she was was a calf that was healthier than all the calves in that ring and for me that's more important than paying for something that my die the second you get it home!

With her being the last one in the ring, the auctioneer began his ramble. They got their first hit at $125 and then had constant bidding from the crowd in $25 increments all the way up to $300. At $300 it stalled and the auctioneer was making his last call of "$300 going once!" At that very moment I reached forward and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked back over his shoulder at me and I gave him a nod for the $325 bid. He asked around a little more for the $350 bid and no one bit, so he closed out the bidding and she was all mine!

I didn't need a baby calf for any reason, getting a baby calf around at this time of year will actually add more to our chores! Now, here I am leading the poor, lost little girl to her pen so I can take her home when the sale was over! She led to the trailer by trying to suck my finger and I picked her up and put her in the front compartment.

When I got her home, Gus was the first one to meet me and had a halter in hand because I had sent him a picture earlier in the day. He no more than got her off the trailer and was running across the yard as she chased him bucking along here and there! In that moment I knew I had made the right decision! 

Is this little calf going to grow up to be a prime animal, No. Is she going to make excellent breeding stock, No. But, is she going to bring joy to our family and ranch, YES! Is she going to be able to go to social events in town and help represent our ranch so kids and adults can get hands on with ranch animals, YES! 

There are times that I probably put the cart before the horse and jump the gun a little. I didn't have a plan in place for the little calf I brought home but I knew she could contribute somehow. The very next day she went right to work when she got loaded up on our Smilin' Ranch Company parade float for our Harvest Festival parade in Gothenburg! She was a hit and got her big debut when she was in our petting zoo in the park that day! She also got to make her rounds in the park where she got admired and petted by all the people who saw her!

The moral of the story is, sometimes you just need to let your gut take control and make the decision without hesitation! It may just be one of the best split second decisions of your life! Think about the long run... core memories will be made for your family! They will talk about with their grandkids about how, "their Mom bought a miniature calf named Bridget at the sale barn and we had so much fun with her! She even ended up living until she was 20 years old!"