70 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN January 2024 approach and communicate with each differently, giving them what they need to move on with less stress. And yet, all too often this type of awareness and these types of adjustments aren’t being considered within our human-to-human interactions, and it comes as a detriment to our working and family relationships and our mental health. Back in the summer of 2016, I was moving several hundred pairs across a few hundred acres – just my dog and me – and as I sat on a hill watching good movement draw good movement as cows picked up their calves and fell in line headed to the fresh pasture, I began reflecting on that phrase “good movement draws good movement” and the principles behind it. The phrase is one I’d heard quite a bit related to stockmanship in reference to what happens when we approach cattle with a positive attitude, read and really listen to what they’re telling us and communicate accordingly. The good movement of one or two cows draws the whole herd into moving with them – good movement draws good movement. In my reflection I began to question: • What would happen if we applied the same stockmanship principles of good movement to humans? • Could one interaction led with kindness and resulting in constructive conversation draw more kindness and constructive conversation? • If good movement draws good movement in cattle, was it possible that the same is true for humans? My conclusion was – not only is this principle applicable to humans, but also absolutely necessary. If the principle applies, what’s keeping us from getting there? World-renowned stockman Bud Williams once wrote, “While my method of stockmanship is quite simple, it is very difficult for people to learn because it often goes against human behavior.” And he’s right. Williams’ method of stockmanship requires self-awareness first and recognizing that whatever the animal is doing GOOD MOVEMENT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 68 CONTINUED ON PAGE 72 Terryn Drieling grew up on a small feedyard in northeast Nebraska. Now she lives and works on a large ranch in the Sandhills with her husband and their three kids. When she’s not ranching, she’s helping fellow farmers and ranchers step out of self-told lies with grace and compassion to draw good movement in conversations, relationships and life in rural America through her Good Movement Trainings and coaching. To learn more about good movement, tune into the Good Movement Draws Good Movement podcast. For more information on Good Movement Trainings or the Enneagram, visit www.faithfamilyandbeef.com or email her at terryn@ faithfamilyandbeef.com. Look for more from Terryn in future issues of Nebraska Cattleman magazine. is the direct result of whatever we’re doing. And as humans, that’s not our first thought. Photo courtesy of Carrie Ryan. Photo courtesy of Audrey Powles.
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