Yesterday and today we went to more brandings. We went over to Bob and Jesse's place again yesterday to help finish up one more batch of calves. We did about eighty of them there. Today we went over to Zach's Uncle Leo's place and helped brand about 160 calves or so.
Yesterday we were up at 6am to be down at the barn by 7am. We were running a little bit late because Tony didn't cooperate too well with his medicine and Annabelle was slow to drink her bottle. So we arrived at the barn about ten minutes late. Jenn and Melissa went out to bring the horses in while Calico and I got some halters ready and met them at the corrals. I caught Dino and Melissa caught Gump, but it turned out that Banjo didn't come in with the horses so Jenn had to go back out to find him and get him in.
By the time we were all saddled and loaded up, we were already running ten minutes late. We got to Bob and Jesse's to find out it was just them, another, and us friend, so there was no rush at all. We went out to gather the cows and it went pretty well. Calico and us interns got to help Jenn sort cows from calves on horseback, which was definitely a new experience.
We then started branding some calves. Three ropers were in the pen for most of the time. Because there were so few of us there, we set up ---- which are staked into the ground, have a long rope with a springy part, and a "fork" at the end that goes under the calf's ears. The stake would hold down the front end and the roper would hold the feet with their rope dallied on their horse. This was a lot easier and less work than flanking, but not as much fun.
After it was all said and done, we headed back to the house where they had lunch ready for us all. We had hamburgers with a delicious pasta salad. After finishing up lunch, we headed back to the ranch where we unsaddled and watered down the barn. Melissa and I roped a little bit before we went to go halter break Tony.
At about one month old, Tony has turned into a very curious, spunky, and rebellious little fellow who definitely lives up to his name as Nuklear Iron Man. Jenn worked with him for a bit with a makeshift rope around his neck. She mostly worked on getting him to turn toward her and get his hind to move a little bit. Once she could get a halter on him, we continued to do the same work with him. He definitely wasn't too sure about it all, but he did absolutely fantastic. After working with Tony, Jenn hopped on Nora bareback for a little bit. Each of us got to ride her as well and boy is she fun to ride. Her trot is very smooth and easy to sit to bareback. IT really felt nice to sit bareback again.
After putting Nora and Tony back in their pen, Calico brought out her horse Maytag again. This would be her second ride on her, but Maytag's 30th ride or so total. She did some groundwork with her and Jenn really helped out. They worked on getting Maytag to move out and get a better expression at each gait. She was showing some resistance and wasn't too thrilled about moving out so much. Once that really looked nice, Calico got on and worked on getting her hind end to move more and changing directions through the middle of the pen. She then worked on getting Maytag to pick her up on the fence.
After finishing up our chores, we ate some dinner and headed for bed for another exciting day of branding.
Today we woke up and immediately went to go get the horses in from the pasture. On our way back to the house to make some bottles, we noticed that Dulce had finally given birth!! She had a strapping red dun colt that Jenn has named Issimo (as in Pianissimo and Fortissimo in regards to music). He is super adorable.
We were finally ready to head out to Uncle Leo's branding. We got there a little bit late and the gathering had already started. We quickly unloaded our horses, jumped on, and raced out to catch up with the other riders bringing in the herd. They were moving pretty fast, so it got a bit "western" as Jenn would say with how our horses had to move faster to beat the cows. We finally got all the cows in the pen for them to be sorted. Britt, one of Jenn's friends who joined us, and I rode back with Zach to the trailer just to get a bit more of riding time. When back at the trailer, Zach loaded Chachi up and told Britt and I we could just ride back to the group. So he drove the trailer back while we rode (the trailer of which shredded a tire on our way but didn't blow out completely).
Back at the corral, we watched as they sorted the yearlings out and then the cows from the calves. Once that was all said and done, we started the branding. Melissa and I were on tag duty, tagging all the calves that didn't have any tags in their ear. There were no ropers at this branding. One person would grab the left back foot of the calf, another person would grab the left front foot, and together they flip the calf on its side. This goes a lot faster than having ropers on horseback.
After about four hours of branding, we were finally done and ready to go to Leo's house where food was waiting for us. Before we could go, we had to replace our shredded tire. This took little time at all and soon we were off to the house. There was tons of food prepared: all different types of fruits and vegetables, potato and ham together in a cheesy sauce, meat sandwiches, and brownies for dessert.
Once back at the ranch, we unsaddled, watered some of the young studs, and then did our chores. Now it's time to take a long shower before heading to bed after a very eventful and fun two days.
Yesterday we were up at 6am to be down at the barn by 7am. We were running a little bit late because Tony didn't cooperate too well with his medicine and Annabelle was slow to drink her bottle. So we arrived at the barn about ten minutes late. Jenn and Melissa went out to bring the horses in while Calico and I got some halters ready and met them at the corrals. I caught Dino and Melissa caught Gump, but it turned out that Banjo didn't come in with the horses so Jenn had to go back out to find him and get him in.
By the time we were all saddled and loaded up, we were already running ten minutes late. We got to Bob and Jesse's to find out it was just them, another, and us friend, so there was no rush at all. We went out to gather the cows and it went pretty well. Calico and us interns got to help Jenn sort cows from calves on horseback, which was definitely a new experience.
We then started branding some calves. Three ropers were in the pen for most of the time. Because there were so few of us there, we set up ---- which are staked into the ground, have a long rope with a springy part, and a "fork" at the end that goes under the calf's ears. The stake would hold down the front end and the roper would hold the feet with their rope dallied on their horse. This was a lot easier and less work than flanking, but not as much fun.
After it was all said and done, we headed back to the house where they had lunch ready for us all. We had hamburgers with a delicious pasta salad. After finishing up lunch, we headed back to the ranch where we unsaddled and watered down the barn. Melissa and I roped a little bit before we went to go halter break Tony.
At about one month old, Tony has turned into a very curious, spunky, and rebellious little fellow who definitely lives up to his name as Nuklear Iron Man. Jenn worked with him for a bit with a makeshift rope around his neck. She mostly worked on getting him to turn toward her and get his hind to move a little bit. Once she could get a halter on him, we continued to do the same work with him. He definitely wasn't too sure about it all, but he did absolutely fantastic. After working with Tony, Jenn hopped on Nora bareback for a little bit. Each of us got to ride her as well and boy is she fun to ride. Her trot is very smooth and easy to sit to bareback. IT really felt nice to sit bareback again.
After putting Nora and Tony back in their pen, Calico brought out her horse Maytag again. This would be her second ride on her, but Maytag's 30th ride or so total. She did some groundwork with her and Jenn really helped out. They worked on getting Maytag to move out and get a better expression at each gait. She was showing some resistance and wasn't too thrilled about moving out so much. Once that really looked nice, Calico got on and worked on getting her hind end to move more and changing directions through the middle of the pen. She then worked on getting Maytag to pick her up on the fence.
After finishing up our chores, we ate some dinner and headed for bed for another exciting day of branding.
Today we woke up and immediately went to go get the horses in from the pasture. On our way back to the house to make some bottles, we noticed that Dulce had finally given birth!! She had a strapping red dun colt that Jenn has named Issimo (as in Pianissimo and Fortissimo in regards to music). He is super adorable.
We were finally ready to head out to Uncle Leo's branding. We got there a little bit late and the gathering had already started. We quickly unloaded our horses, jumped on, and raced out to catch up with the other riders bringing in the herd. They were moving pretty fast, so it got a bit "western" as Jenn would say with how our horses had to move faster to beat the cows. We finally got all the cows in the pen for them to be sorted. Britt, one of Jenn's friends who joined us, and I rode back with Zach to the trailer just to get a bit more of riding time. When back at the trailer, Zach loaded Chachi up and told Britt and I we could just ride back to the group. So he drove the trailer back while we rode (the trailer of which shredded a tire on our way but didn't blow out completely).
Back at the corral, we watched as they sorted the yearlings out and then the cows from the calves. Once that was all said and done, we started the branding. Melissa and I were on tag duty, tagging all the calves that didn't have any tags in their ear. There were no ropers at this branding. One person would grab the left back foot of the calf, another person would grab the left front foot, and together they flip the calf on its side. This goes a lot faster than having ropers on horseback.
After about four hours of branding, we were finally done and ready to go to Leo's house where food was waiting for us. Before we could go, we had to replace our shredded tire. This took little time at all and soon we were off to the house. There was tons of food prepared: all different types of fruits and vegetables, potato and ham together in a cheesy sauce, meat sandwiches, and brownies for dessert.
Once back at the ranch, we unsaddled, watered some of the young studs, and then did our chores. Now it's time to take a long shower before heading to bed after a very eventful and fun two days.