Muster (livestock)

Mustering may be conducted for a variety of reasons including routine livestock health checks and treatments, branding, shearing, lamb marking, sale, feeding and transport or droving to another location.

Mustering is a long, difficult and sometimes dangerous job, especially on the vast Australian cattle stations of the Top End, 'The Falls' (gorge) country of the Great Dividing Range and the ranches of the western United States.

When mustering cattle in isolated gorge country a good dog will silently move ahead of the stockman and block up the stock until the rider appears to take control.

[3] The seasonal mustering of cattle with horses is still very important in remote country and the stockmen will spend long days riding and camping in isolated areas.

Livestock can also be passively mustered by trap yards (Au) or holding corrals (US), which are set up at points where enticements such as water, molasses, fodder or salt are placed.

One of the most difficult animals to muster are aged feral steers (US) or piker bullocks (AU), which were "micky bulls" (uncastrated young male cattle) that were caught, castrated and then later lost and grew up in the wild.

Helicopter mustering pilots require a cool head and lightning reflexes, as the chopper as they fly works in their own dust close to the swaying treetops.

In this case the stockman and his dogs would be lowered from a helicopter onto the higher slopes to bring the sheep down, possibly before winter.

Low stress stock handling schools are now regularly run to educate graziers, stockmen and some helicopter pilots in the working of cattle especially, and sheep as well.

Mustering in the Top End is conducted during the dry season from April to September when additional stockmen will be employed for the purpose.

Due to the time and distance involved, not only did livestock and cowboys have to endure rough terrain and extreme weather, herds were also at risk from theft, hunger and disease.

The animals are gathered in holding corrals near a developed road, loaded into a livestock trailer or semi-trailer and transported to their ultimate destination.

The skills required to round up and drive cattle became formalized in the sports of rodeo, cutting, reining, team penning and related competitive events.

Circa 1957 Slim Dusty recorded the Wave Jackson composition "Once When I Was Mustering" as the "B" side to what was to become a hit "A Pub with No Beer".