Another notch in the belt of experience!

Well it all started in February, my a really good friend of mine Katie mentioned that her family was going to have a branding in April. Now I had been to her house over the fourth of July in 2007. So I was already accustomed to the ranch. I knew her parents and her two brothers. So I got some funds together and we bought some plane tickets and headed to Flathead Indian Reservation in the heart of western Montana.

It started on Saturday morning the 19th of April, 2008. We got up and ate sourdough pancakes from a sourdough starter that was over 135 years old. Katie made the bacon that was so good because it had the right amount of flop, and her mom flipped the pancakes. We all got our boots on and headed out to saddle up the horses. The weather was good but the chance of snow lurked in the distance. We gathered up the cows and the calf's. At that point the wind started to blow. Jeff and a few other cowboys from the area went into the corrals and sorted the cows from the calf's. They put the cows in the pens and the calf's in the barn to dry out for branding purposes. I found myself hiding and observing in the barn to get out of the cold. Also the white flakes started to fall.

We got the cows through their immunization process and started on the calf's. I was walking around in the barnyard when Jeff looked at me and said "I got a job for you come here!" He gave me some chaps and told me to go over to the chute. They showed me once what I was going to do for my job. I was the guy that grabbed the calf's leg and tied it up. I was suppose to stabilize the leg so that the brand could be applied evenly and accurately to the buttocks of the calf. I found myself to be a very useful part to the operation. I found it to be time consuming and that I needed to act quickly so that the process could move fast. I found that if I didn't tie the leg right the hoof would come loose and the calf would kick the veterinarian in the arm or the head during the castration process. One time during the process the leg did come untied and the calf kicked me in the arm. The vet turned to me and said are you ok. I really didn't feel it but I do have a bruise to show. So I guess that it was pretty forceful.

What really got to me was the smell. It wasn't a bad smell by any means. I just felt that the smoke was really carcinogenic. The smoke was a gross yellow, and it tasted terrible. I didn't think that the smoke had hurt me at all I was more concerned with the fact that the cowboys had been inhaling this their whole lives.

One thing that really got to me was the process. It reminded me of the concentration camps of Austria and Poland. It reminded me of the large pens that the Jews were housed in like Auschwitz and Birkenau. I know that it is a lot different but by the same token I felt sad for the cows. I realize that this is the way that it has always been done and I am not going to advocate a change in the cattle industry. I just want people to be aware of part of the process.

We finished up around 5 that night. The woman in the house made some of the best food that I have ever had. I want to thank everyone for the fun and excitement that was provided to all of us. As we headed home I want to point out the feelings of most that left the day after branding.