A Rangeland Parable Item Type text; Article Authors Nelle, Steve Citation Nelle, S. (1981). A Rangeland Parable. Rangelands, 3(6), 238. Publisher Society for Range Management Journal Rangelands Rights Copyright © Society for Range Management. Download date 30/09/2021 12:00:14 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final published version Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/638314 238 Rangelands 3(6), December 1981 literature summarized as follows. I would consider any and Longton, Tim, and Edward Hart. 1976. The sheep dog: Its all of the books valuable to the stock dog owner and/or work and training. Davis and Charles, Inc. North Pomfret, trainer. Vermont 05053. USA. 124 p. Allen, Arthur N. 1965. Border collies in America. Arthur N. This book is written primarily for the Border collie in sheep work. Itincludes much information on train- Rt. Illinois 62859. USA. 56 dog management, Allen, 3, McLeansboro, p. ing, and trialing. An excellent book. This book contains much academic information on Bordercol- lies as well as for on the ranch and in training sheep handling Ben. 1970. Rt. trials.' It is easyto read withclear informative pictures. A good Means, The perfect stock dog. Ben Means, 1, book. Box 23, Walnut Grove, Missouri 65770. 24 p. This book iswritten primarily for training of the Bordercollie for Author not stated. No date. of Australia. official farm and ranch workwithout consideration for trialing, etc. It Dogs (An has a few and and iswritten the Kennel Control Council. Victo- pictured diagrammedillustrations publication of Melborne, in the language of the country boy with special emphasis on ria.) Humphrey & Formula Press. Pty. Ltd. Bayswater,Mel- traininga "using cowdog." Agood book written for the country borne, Victoria, Australia. 128 p. boy trainer and user. This book discusses in detail the breed characteristics and training of numerous Australian dogs including many stock Mills, A.R., and S.F. Herbert. 1964. A practical guide to han- dogs. Included are the dingo, Australian cattle dog, border dling dogs and stock. A.H. and A.W. Reed Ltd., 51 Whiting collie, Australianshepherd, and many others. All well illustrated New by pictures. A good book. Street, Artarmon, Sydney, South Wales, Australia. 125 p. This is a detailed book on the and utilization of the Holmes, John. 1978. The farmer's dog. The Anchor Press, very training basic stock dog. It does not have illustrations. An excellent Ltd. Tiptree, Essex. Great Britain. 162 p. book. This book is very detailed on the training and utilization of the Border collie. Included are good pictorial illustrations. An excellent book. Most paramount in all dog training and utilization is the training of the man. Trials and trialing isan organizedcontest of the handling and overall ability of the stock dog doingits work. Thesecontests in this region aresometimes held R.L. Dalrymple at county fairs, etc. Apparently in some areas they have special trials not Pasture & Crops Specialist necessarilyassociated with other gatherings. In analogy,we might relateto these trials as being comparableto bird dog trialsexcept, of course,in these The Samuel Roberts NobleFoundation trials the objective is to contest the stock dog and its handling of stock. Ardmore, Oklahoma A Rangeland Parable Steve Nelle (This is a fictionalanology that tells an oldstory in aslightly different The third master worked his worker hard each day from way.) sunup until sundown. This master fed the worker well, gave Three masters each had a worker doing labor for them. him breaksand allowed him to rest at night. This master got The first master worked his worker continuously, day and many years of dependable service from the worker who night, giving him little or no rest and inadequatefood. Since remained strong and healthy all of his life. the worker was overworked and underfed, he soon began to The first master allowed a once-productive worker to die work off of his limited fat reserve. The worker lived and by over-working him. The worker would have given him worked off ofthese reserves for a short whileuntil they were years more work if the master had given him an occasional used up. As the master continued to work him, he became chance to rest. weaker and weaker until the worker finally collapsed. The The second master, even though he spared the life of his mastertried to work him still more until the worker soon died. worker, lost much productive work from him, and impaired The second master likewise overworked and underfed his his ability for future work. worker until he too had towork on his limited fat reserve.As The third master sacrificed a small amount of initial pro- this worker became too weak to workhe also collapsed. But duction by allowing his worker to rest. This short-termsacri- the masterhad pityon the worker and allowed him to restand fice was, however, far outweighed by the long-term eat. Aftera prolonged recovery period the worker eventually productivity the master got from his worker over long years. regained enough strength to begin work again. He was, So take heed, you masters of the range. Take care of the however, still in a weakenedcondition and was not able to hardest worker on your ranch, your grassland, and it will perform to his potential. serve you faithfully forever—Steve Nelle, Laredo, Texas .