Turning longhorn cattle into city slickers
ELLICOTT, Colo. — The mid-day sun pierced a lone January cloud as Gary Lake saddled his horse. This was not Stock Show weather.
It was January 7, the day before the National Western Stock Show kick-off parade. Lake planned to round up dozens of longhorn cattle to take to Denver for the annual procession through LoDo.
For 18 years, Lake’s longhorns have led the parade, marching up 17th Street in a tradition that harkens back to Denver’s days as a dusty Western town. Last year, icy conditions prevented these longhorns from attending Denver’s parade.
“We don't really see Denver as a cow town anymore, but that's its history,” said Lake, whose cattle have participated in trail drives around the county. “We’re more of a circus than we are a ranch.”
In nearly two decades, a cow has never gotten loose, said Lake. But it’s something he thinks about.
"We’re the ones who have to handle them...make sure nobody gets stepped on and get them back in the pen,” said Lake. “It’s a little bit nerve-racking.”
That’s why he’s so selective about which cattle make the cut.
Some "aren't quite as pretty or aren't quite as gentle to handle; we'll sort them back out into the pasture and leave them home. [We] just take the ones that enjoy going,” said Lake.
Others must stay home because their horns are wider than his seven-foot trailer.
Lake transported the longhorns to Denver the morning of the parade. With the help of several hands, he unloaded the cattle at Coors Field. He took questions from reporters, saddled his horse, prayed and guided the cattle through a maze of thousands of spectators.
“Any city street is a foreign place for a cow. So she knows two things: she knows the other cows that are there, and she knows just to keep moving forward away from the horses. So honest to goodness, when you have a hundred thousand people on the street, it looks like they're inside a walled building,” said Lake. “When you get cattle stopped, that's when they want to get in trouble."
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