Brandings all about friendship, fun, support

At this time of year you’re bound to see photos of ranchers branding cattle, along with all those newspaper pictures of graduations and proms. And why not? A photographer can find a picture waiting everywhere, of neighbors helping neighbors, handsome cowboy types with spurs and coiled lariats, little kids wearing Wranglers and big hats. There’s smoke and dust rising above corral fences and cattle, and gorgeous girls sporting tighter-than-tight jeans. It’s that movie-magic West. That’s the way it was at our place on a recent Saturday. One more time, our friends and family rallied to help with the one ranch job we can’t do by ourselves - gathering, sorting, roping and branding several hundred calves in a single day. In Wyoming and the other Western states where ranching still hangs on, there’s a reason for livestock branding. A registered brand is a calf’s passport and its legal proof of ownership. It allows cattle to be identified wherever they roam. “Put ‘er on right,” I was taught. “She’ll wear it all her life.” A good “one-iron” livestock brand is highly sought after; it’s a simple mark that requires only one tool and a single quick touch of the hot iron to the hide...CodyEnterprise