As Jack said we would, calf-branding begins two days later. First thing is to round up unbranded calves and drive them to where we’ve built the fire and laid out irons. Mothers come with the calves, but are held some distance away while the calf is roped and thrown. Soon as he’s down, the rope is removed by one man while its ears are seized by another. The head is twisted so the calf lies flat, at which a man sits on the calf. The roping man has now gone around to the calf’s back end, where he stifles any kicking by using a foot to push one hind leg well forward, and with both hands, pull the other far to rear. This renders the calf helpless, crying while branded.
Sometimes a mother cow is so driven by her child in distress that she gets around her human guards. This particular day, it ha
