Branding
I love branding. I enjoy finally being able to be outside and not be freezing(most of the time). To me branding means that spring is finally in full swing because the cows will leave to go out on the grass not too long after. When we brand we use Nord Forks. They are an amazing invention that makes branding so much easier. The cowboy ropes the calf by his heels and then the calf is dragged to these forks. These forks are attatched to a rope which is attached to a deflated inner tube which is attatched to a bungie rope and that rope is attatched to a stake in the ground whoo! As the calf is dragged by these forks by the cowboy, the headcatcher sets the fork over the calfs neck and then the cowboy and his horse pull the rope just tight enough so that the calf can't move and then he is branded and given his shots(that's what I do) and then they pull the off the fork and the cowboy slacks his rope and the calf runs over with the other calves that have been branded. One calf can be done in about 20 seconds, our family has it down to a real art:) And then we gather all of the cows and calves up and take them out to the green grass. Yay!