CLOVEN H. & EVA WALL
Across the Fence
By
Arvord Abernethy
Did you
ever wonder why small children are often called kids? If you were ever
around a bunch of young kid goats early in the morning or late in the
afternoon, you would understand. All they want to do is play, especially
if you have just fed their mothers so they can be alone to play. They
like to climb up on something just like a kid, I mean a child. Whether
it is a leaning tree or something else, they like to challenge each
other as to which one can push the other off.
Mary and
I drove out to the C. H. Walls, Cloven and Eva the other afternoon and
had an enjoyable visit.
While
there we got to watch their stock dog, Sput, which is short for Sputnik,
work the goats. As soon as Cloven and I started walking toward the field
where the goats were, Sput’s interest began running high. He could
hardly wait for us to open the gate.
Then he
ran ahead looking back at us all along. Pretty soon Cloven gave the
command “go around” and Sput tore out in a hard run to the outside
of the flock. The goats were scattered from one side to the other on a
30 acre oat field and Sput in a dead run systematically got all those
goats going to the center of the field.
Pretty
soon some more came out of the Cowhouse Creek and when Sput saw them he
brought them to the bunch. He went back to the creek and was gone for
some time. Cloven decided that there was something wrong, so he got his
pickup and we drove down there. In the scramble of getting up the steep
bank of the creek, a kid had jumped into the shallow water and Sput
would not leave it.
In a
effort to get a picture of Sput working the goats up close, Cloven gave
the command for him to bring them to us. He worked in a run from side to
side and brought them right up to us. Since he was always in a run and
also behind the goats, it was hard to get a picture. When Cloven wanted
him to stop, he gave the command “wait” then Sput would lay flat on
his belly until given another command.
Cloven
said if he needed to move the goats even a long distance, he could give
out the command to follow and he would bring the goats along as Cloven
drove the pickup.
I
haven’t seen many dogs working goats or sheep, but this was the best I
have ever seen, and Sput did it with enthusiasm of a child at a picnic.
Cloven trained him himself.
The
benefits of having the goats could be easily seen as we drove around the
place. The goats had kept down the sprouts and underbrush where clearing
had been done and now there is a good clean pecan grove in places along
the creek. They have also kept the underbrush cleaned up in the pasture,
giving grass a better chance as well as giving the pasture a much better
appearance.
Another
benefit that probably came from the goats is a nice addition to their
home. It is mainly a large, vaulted ceiling living room and a double
garage along with another bath room and closets. There is a large mantle
and hearth in one end of the room, but, instead of an open fireplace,
they have installed a large wood-burning stove that will handle larger
pieces than most stoves do. It was too late in the season when the room
was completed, so they didn’t get to try out the stove.
Their
home sits on a little rise making a beautiful view as one stands on the
long porch of the original house, looking across a well kept lawn, on
across the bottom fields to the woods along the Cowhouse.
The
Walls also have a ranch over in
Mills
County
where they run mutton goats and cattle. Cloven has recently purchased
some donkeys that he has put with his goats to keep the coyotes away.
You have heard of watch-donkeys haven’t you?
Both of
the Walls spent most of their childhood out around Sweetwater, and after
their marriage, moved to
Oklahoma
. They came back to the Evant country in 1962 and bought their present
home on the Cowhouse in 1971.
They
have three sons and a daughter. Charles is in the Air Force, Terry lives
at Stephenville and produces rodeos, Ronnie taught school several years
but switched to training horses, as he says that horses can’t talk
back to him. Their daughter, Karen lives in Weatherford but teaches and
coaches basketball at the Brock school there in
Parker
County.
Shared
by Roy Ables