Saturday, May 23, 2015

Before the Branding Fire Starts

After our spring works, things got even busier and I never got around to posting the 2nd round of photos I had taken so I thought I'd pop those in here. Finding cattle in this is a challenge, but I headed out to Adobe Pens anyway:


The sun worked its magic and a clear, blue sky took over. Even the moon wanted in on the action:


This road was washed out and completely impassable so the dozer man built it back up and now we're back in business. We're going to get spoiled with nice roads like this:


This is Spotted Tank...our favorite fishing hole...until the drought dried it up and killed all the fish. :( Lots of good memories were made here:


And now we've been blessed with an abundance of water. This is the other side of the road where the water spills over. Looks like the perfect spot for a hammock!


Once I got to the pens, I scanned the horizon until I spotted the herd:


The crew brings 'em up easy


It was a perfect morning to be horseback, but if you ask this girl, ANY morning is a perfect morning when you are in the saddle:


The crew holds the herd


While DH cuts out the bulls and sorts off the drys 




And the boys drive them through the gate


Where they fuss and grumble about being pushed around:

                            

Next up, they walk the cattle into the pens

                            

and sort off the calves


Once they are all sorted and corraled into a holding pen


 They can finally start branding. I apologize for the photo heavy post. I edited heavily. :)

                           

Guess I'm not very good at that. :)

                        

O.K. That's a lot of photos.  I'm thinking we'll save the actual branding shots for tomorrow. Just one more. :)



9 comments:

Hilachas said...

What a busy bunch of cowboys ya'll are. You make it sound like fun but I'll bet it's actually a lot of work. Fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing.

Tired Teacher said...

I loved all the photos: they brought back a lot of memories and sounds lodged deep in my heart.

Your daughter obviously loved being home and in the saddle. Does she bring her horse home, too, or borrow one for the day?

Unknown said...

I'm a ranchers/farmers wife also....we live in Western Oklahoma, and don't have as many acres to cover as you and your family. I love the way you do all your work on horseback, reminds me when I was a little girl helping my granddad. Now my husband and I don't even have a horse to ride anymore, all our cattle can be handled with the pickup or a four wheeler. Great memories on my horse!!

Gwynette in NW Arkansas said...

I always love your photo "heavy" posts. The photos educate some to a way of life not many live now. Everyone around here, my DH included, have their cattle trained to follow the four wheelers to the feed. It is funny to watch our steers buck and jump and butt playfully at the ATV. They settle down pretty quick for a sweet feed treat. Looking forward to the branding chronicle!!

Chiska said...

So fun to see your photos! I love looking at them. Thanks so much for sharing.

Dar said...

Never too many photos in my opinion. I love seeing how you and your family are still working the land and cattle. Wish I had known more about this life when I was younger. I know it's not an easy life, but it seems to agree with you and I'm sure you are all healthier for your life style. You go girl!! I love seeing it all.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful day! I am glad you have water, too. Things are looking a little better this year.

Ranch Wife said...

Debbie - I imagine that right now, you could use a boat to gather your cattle if you're in Oklahoma! Hope y'all are safe and will dry out soon! I would love to reply back to you via email, but you show up as a non-reply blogger. If you would like, just leave me your e-mail next time to pop in here.

Unknown said...

Always love your workin posts! Been reading faithly just behind in commenting. Been so blessed with rain here my tank finally filled up .Had a little over 20 inches in May. At Archer City my boss had over 11 in one day(electronic gauge) glad yall have been blessed with moisture too. Hope your mom didnt have any flooding in SA

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