Howdy all. I still have a lot of branding pictures to share and I haven’t even gotten to the best part- the actual branding! While some of our cowboys and cowgirls rope the calves, there are also bodies on foot, who take care of the groundwork. Groundwork includes vaccinations, castrating, earmarking, and, you guessed it- branding!

Here’s how it goes- a cowboy/cowgirl heels a calf and drags it towards the branding iron, where someone on foot will place the head-catcher on the calf’s head. The head catcher helps keep the calf in place as those on the ground proceed to vaccinate, castrate, earmark, and brand. Once finished, they release the head catch, and off the calf goes- usually pretty swiftly!

The roping part is the part My Cowboy lives for. Few things in this life make him as happy as a day spent on the range branding, where he gets to ride and rope. He despises anything that has to do with a calf table. All operations are different and have to do what works best for their outfit, so absolutely no disrespect is meant towards any calf-table users. There are pro’s and con’s to roping, just like there are pro’s and con’s a calf table. I’m simply highlighting how much our crew LOVES their time spent roping. 

Clay’s oldest brother’s wifee! She is also known as “The Rancher’s Wife” as she has a blog where she shares all about what happens on the ranch- you can find her here. Check it out!

My Cowboy. My favorite cowboy.

 

How cute is this little cowboy?!

While I still have more pictures to share, as for the explanation of a typical branding day, there you have it! It is always a full day of cows, dust, roping, singed hair, good food, family, friends, horses, and photos.  I will be back before long to continue sharing all that I captured that day with you 🙂

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