My experience is to chain the gate

Local columnist

link Audra Brown

Don’t spit into the wind. Good advice and, in this part of the world, we all know somebody who spits, and we dang sure know about the wind.

There’s a lot of good advice out there. Here’s the trite wisdom for the day, brought to you by our proud sponsor, experience:

Chain the gate.

That’s it. Three words that will save you more trouble than you can count, even if you can count quite high.

Ignore this advice at your own risk. It applies to every possible combination of gate and chain (such that it is physically possible).

In all other cases, adjust the definition of gate and/or chain until it is possible.

Every rule is based on an incident, and the best rules are based on the worst incidents. This rule is no exception.

Allow me to convince you of its legitimacy.

In the working of cattle, gates are a common and irreplaceable installation. They could also deserve one of those “death or serious injury” labels.

Some gates have handles and other quick, convenient latches to hold them closed.

Don’t be fooled. Chain ’em.

Unchained gates may come open at the most inopportune times. Such as, when you are not looking. Getting hit in the back and slammed into the ground or into the fence, or dragged underneath, or into the path of a charging bovine, or … you get the point.

You don’t want to get hit by a gate. So, chain it.

But you say you don’t care about your own safety or the lives of others? How ’bout money? Nobody wants to see money disappear.

If the gate separating your calves from the outside world gets open and they depart for parts unknown, there goes your dough. At recent prices, that’s a loss of $1,200-$1,500 for every four feet that disappear.

Thus, chain the gate.

Now for the nightmare. It’s the story that keeps little farm and ranch kids awake at night.

The gate on the trailer. Unchained.

Imagine dropping a large animal on the highway at 65 mph. The results are never OK. Backs are broken, hide is scraped, heads ache, hearts break, and some small imports are never identified.

Audra Brown doesn’t want to see the epitaph, “She didn’t chain the gate.” Contact her at:

[email protected]