The (almost) last branding
JO Brand
photo by Tim Findley
Branding Reverie
Sweating snorting horses nose through a dusty path,
Pursue those darting legs, a nervous slick hide calf.
Studious, squint-eyed roper shakes out a snaky loop,
Sails it out for two hind feet, a hissing missle swoop.
Tussling, muscled boys shoot forward with a squirt,
Tackle that baby calf, twist it squirming to the dirt.
Duck that snapping rope, watch those saber hooves,
Shake loose the clinging loop, slide clean with practiced moves.
Shiny, magic vaccine shoots in beneath the hide,
A modern incantation, an amulet inside.
A pawing brawling mama makes her presence known,
Stomp her calf’s tormentors, tear them hide from bone.
The branding man steps in with his irons straight from hell,
Sizzling, searing, glowing, a puff of burnt hair smell.
A knife red-stained with blood, sharpened like a guillotine,
Slices ear and ball sack, motions swift and clean.
Iridescent testicles, young bullhood gone awry,
Gives lurking smirking cowdogs their testosterone supply.
A wrist’s quick twist takes hornbuds, no headgear for this steer,
Eyes all meet, heads all nod, release him from his fear.
Run back where mama’s waiting, glaring, blowing phlegm,
They dart into the fluid herd, anonymous again.
Sharon Salisbury O’Toole
Bringing in the cows and calves
Middle Smiley, Home Ranch
photo by Pat O'Toole
Memorial Day weekend brought friends and family to visit, and enjoy a glorious weekend. For us an abundance of company means one thing. Well, maybe more than one thing, like great conversation, lots of cooking and eating, and late nights. But the main thing that really springs to mind is FREE HELP! We scheduled two brandings for the weekend. This brings us up to date, and means we are done except for a few late calvers.
Saturday we branded at Powder Wash, where we run some horned cows who prefer the challenging conditions of the high desert. This is always an adventure because they think that perhaps those horns would be useful in taking out the humans who are briefly distressing their calves. This is the one branding where we have a spotter who chases irate cows away from the ground crew.
State Line corrals at Powder Wash
Sweetwater County, Wyoming with
Moffat County, Colorado on the other side of the gate
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Waiting for the ground crew
Powder Wash
photo by Sharon O'Toole
On Sunday, we branded the rest of the calves at the Home Ranch. We pressed friends and family into service. We got the job done and had a good time. The highlight of the evening was a lamb dinner, of course!
Eamon dragging in the calf
photo by Pat O'Toole
Ground crew at work
photo by Tim Findley
