Some Real Advice
by Gene Lambert

Nifty was young, fresh out of town and desperate to go farming so Mana took him on.

Mana had come up from the bottom the hard way and knew the country he was now managing like the back of his hand. When Nifty arrived on the scene he had to show him how to do every single thing because he was a little green in matters country. He made a few balls-ups but Mana was patient and gave him the opportunity to learn, never forgetting the way he was taught. By the time shearing came around Nifty’s list of cock-ups was developing nicely and pushing Mana’s good nature right to the limit. Mana still maintained his composure explaining things quietly and believed the smack he got around the ears in his day was not the way.

The crunch came when they were drenching the shorn Perendale lambs. They were lively enough at the best of times but fresh out of the shearing shed they were shockers, almost impossible to handle. The heat was getting to everybody and Nifty wanted a drink so he jumped the rail into the pen holding the lambs to take a short cut to the tap.

The lambs got a hell of a fright and bolted. Not caring where they were going they just took off and in cowboy terms, way out back in Arizona it would have been called a massive stampede. The leaders smashed into the rails at the far side of the yard then the pressure from those behind forced them down until the weight crushed them to the ground. The pressure kept mounting until they were piling four deep against the rails. The lambs at the back kept climbing over the rest until the pile was high enough for them to clear the fence. They headed off down the road at a great rate of knots without a single glance back.

The remainder were packed in so tight they were starting to smother, one of the worst things that can ever happen to a stockman. Mana had seen a few smothers in his career and knew the danger so he dived in and started pulling them apart. He had to get air to the lambs at the bottom of the heap and save as many from the crush as he could. Nifty sensed the urgency, rushing back to help. After ten minutes of hard slog most of the poor little buggers were staggering around the yard and the ones still on the ground were puffing hard trying to get their breath back. Though none died there were a hell of a lot of crook lambs in that yard and those who had gone over the top weren’t stopping for nobody.

Another one for Nifty’s list!

Getting his breath back Mana looked at his young mate while the sweat poured down, leaving channels in the dust on his face. He wasn’t the happiest bloke around but forced himself to keep his cool. When his breathing finally allowed him to talk he turned to Nifty.

“You’re a keen young fella and I reckon you want to be a top stockman”?
Meekly he nodded, waiting for Mana to blow up.
“You maybe want to manage a place one day, or even own one?"
Again he looked up from the ground long enough to nod.
“You will likely have people working for you?
“I guess” Nifty was wondering where the hell this was leading?
“When someone working for you has made a balls-up, a really major cock-up” Mana was emphasising every point. “Which is totally unnecessary, there is no need to blow your top. I will even show you what to do”.
Nifty breathed a sigh of relief because it didn’t look like he was going to get a smack around the ear or even worse, sacked.
“You take them over to a fence like this and tell them to climb over”
The youngster dutifully clambered over the fence.
“Now, you ask them what they can see?"
The fence was on the edge of a bluff that dropped sheer for eighty feet down to the rocks beside the river below.
Standing there for a long time looking at the jagged rocks waiting for something to happen Nifty finally had to ask
“What do I do now”?
Mana looked at him with a deep sincerity and a real conviction.
“Jump."