After a hearty breakfast, served while it's still dark, they head out to gather the cattle as the first hints of sunshine peek over the horizon.
The mommas and babies are gathered (with lots of bawling to each other), penned and separated. The cowboys get off their horses, awaiting further instructions. Dad sets up the branding equipment in the pen with the calves and starts the propane burner, which roars to life. Each helper gets their assignment: ear tagging, flanking, dehorning, branding, injecting, and the most envied -- roping.
One by one, the calves are roped and dragged to the branding fire for immunizations and their permanent identification. Branding has been a tradition on American ranches for centuries.
Actually, branding can be traced back as far as Ancient Egypt, where tomb paintings show realistic scences of animal round-ups and brandings.
The Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, brought a small herd of cattle with him, which he branded with a mark of three crosses. Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado brought several hundred branded cows with him in 1514 when he explored the region that is now the Southwestern U.S.
In lands under Spanish rule, branding was especially important to the people after 1776, when the Spanish government proclaimed that all unbranded cattle would be considered property of the Crown.
Brands show ownership, and, because they are burned or frozen into the animal's hide, are difficult to change. Most states have branding laws that dictate regulations on registering brands, where the brands can be placed on the animals, and how the brands should be verified when the animals are moved or sold.
To find out more about each state's brand laws, check out the Brand Laws page hosted by the University of Texas. Brand statutes and regulations are listed alphabetically for 40 states. The authors request that if you have information on the others (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia), please contact them with details.
Some states have their brand registration information on-line.
And, after you've whet your appetite to participate in a real ranch branding, visit Working Ranch Vacations to find a branding in your area.
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