On the overland route, Captain "Buddy"(which may not even be his name) annoyed at the fact that Jerrod is joining them even though he's just hitching a ride to California and won't be working for his company makes up a story about his company being low on funds to squeeze money off Jerrod(who wouldn't know better) and while he's watching the grass grow, Captain "Buddy" and his crew are off spending his money in the saloons.
In-Universe, Captain "Buddy" has Jerrod do all these tasks that way he will be scapegoated if anything goes wrong. Animals are stolen or dies in the desert, no grass to feed the animals, caught in a snowstorm in the Sierra's? It's all Jerrod's fault. The fact that the Captain doesn't specify what type of animal he wants and even says that he hopes Jerrod got the right type AFTER he's gotten them indicates this.
