"Git along, little dogies!" soon may become "Avast, ye mateys!" in the lexicon of colorful cowboy colloquialisms. Several cowboys from out west are now heading east from Eastport, riding aboard ship on the high seas and caring for pregnant cows instead of riding herd on the high plains and roping calves. Texan Bennett Maddox and his brother James are one of two sets of brothers among the cowboys who work for Sexing Technologies -- which is shipping the cattle through the port of Eastport to Turkey and Russia -- and travel across the Atlantic with the cows. They are 21st century cowboys who are redefining the iconic image from the West.
     Bennett Maddox began riding horses when he was a two year old, taking part in a barrel race at his first rodeo. When he turned five he went on his first cattle drive with his father, working 10,000 to 30,000 acres in the Texas hill country. He points out, "I come from a long line of cowboys," with his great-grandfather, grandfather and father all driving cattle. He grew up on a ranch south of San Antonio and notes, "It was bred into me. I absolutely love it."
     "We had to drive them with horses. Now we're doing crazy work driving them across the ocean." He laughs. "If you told me five years ago I'd be doing this, I'd have said you were crazy."
     His father has worked for Sexing Technologies since it began in   2003, and Bennett now works for the company, which specializes in artificial insemination of cows.
     Now 27, Maddox notes that a cowboy's skills have changed with the times. "We're redefining the actual term cowboy. I should have the boots, the hat, the belt buckle." But there are practical reasons for what cowboys wear, and the traditional cowboy hat and boots are not suited for climbing into a shipping container on the ocean.
He observes that taking care of the cows requires a great deal of knowledge, and one has to get into the mind of the animal. "The cows are just big puppy dogs. You treat them like your own dog, and they're very happy the whole way."
     On the voyages across the Atlantic to Turkey or Russia, which can take up to 20 days, the cowboys go three or four times a day into each of the 40 to 45 containers that are on deck to check on the 15 to 18 cows in each container. They look for any sickness or weight loss and "make sure they're happy."
     Cows can get sick out to sea, and Maddox has to recognize the symptoms and administer medical care. The rocking of the ship can cause a cow to go into early labor, and he's become experienced with caring for newborn calves during the trips across the seas. On one trip several calves were delivered, and Maddox had to spend much of his time manipulating their position during the calving process. He notes that you can't call a veterinarian to come help when you're out to sea. On his last crossing, one cow got pneumonia, and Maddox had the veterinary supplies to take care of her. "By the end of the trip she was doing amazing. She looked just as good if not better than the other cows." Cows also can get seasick, but they don't turn green and the sickness "doesn't come out the front," Maddox notes. "I'm glad I don't get seasick," he adds.
     His grandfather finds it incredible what Maddox is now doing. "When he was doing cattle drives, shipping cows across the ocean was never done." Cows are very sensitive, but a type of feed has been developed that helps keep them healthy and calm. "A big reason we're so successful is we can spend so much more time with them," Maddox points out. In his father's day, the death rate was between 1% and 5% for transporting cows across the country. Now it's under 1% for taking them across the ocean, "because we're able to care for the cows better."
     The containers that the cows are shipped in "really allow the cow to travel very comfortably," with plenty of feed and water. Fans keep the cows cool during the hot weather, their heat keeps them warm in the cold. The bedding of compressed sawdust provides extra cushioning and soaks up the smell of ammonia.
     The shipment of Holsteins loaded on March 2 aboard the CEC Mirage also included a container of dynamite that was placed on deck next to the cows. "My dad said he hopes nothing goes wrong, else there'll be a huge barbecue," Maddox kids, saying he was assured that everything would be "perfectly fine."
     About 4,200 cows have been shipped through the port by Sexing Technologies since last July. Most have gone to Turkey, with one shipment to Russia. The company plans many more shipments and now has contracts all over the world. Turkey is working to repopulate its cattle supply with fresh blood, and shipping pregnant cows gives them "two for one," Maddox points out. Also, Sexing Technologies provides sex-sorted sperm to the livestock industry, so there can be a 90% chance of having a female calf born. Maddox notes that if one wants to repopulate a livestock herd, almost all of them should be female.
     As for his work at the port, Maddox says, "Everyone in the company has absolutely fallen in love with Eastport." He notes that people have gone out of their way to meet their needs and help them. A group of women has been "cooking us amazing food," and, before the cowboys come into Eastport, longshoremen at the port do much of the work that the cowboys would need to do. "They've made us feel like part of the community."
     He and his brother James even have rented an apartment in Eastport. "We like it so much here, we plan to hang out here when we're not working." If they were working at a larger port "we wouldn't get that small-town special treatment that we get here. We're so thankful to have that."
     Maddox does have a house in San Antonio, but he rarely sees it. "My dog misses me, too."
     But any homesickness doesn't cause his enthusiasm for the port of Eastport to waver. "We absolutely love doing business in Eastport. We are so grateful for the people here," he says, adding that he expects Sexing Technologies "will be doing business out of Eastport for quite some time."