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Pinedale Online > News > July 2006 > Real Rodeo – Team Branding

Branding Iron. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Branding Iron
This branding used white paint instead of a hot iron to brand the heifers.

Roping. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Roping
Two cowboys on horseback work together to rope one of the four heifers. The first cowboy is the 'header', who ropes the heifer's head. The 'heeler' ropes the hind legs.

The Fall. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
The Fall
This cowboy is pulled off his horse during the roping. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
Real Rodeo – Team Branding
Opening Day event - 2006 Sublette County Fair
by Pinedale Online
July 30, 2006

The roots of rodeo go back to the 1800s. In those days, local cowboys got together to show their everyday cowboying skills to their peers. That is a far cry from the professional rodeos of today, where events have been streamlined for the benefit of spectators, many events display talents that have little to do with working real cattle, and the cash prizes have produced professional cowboys who only rodeo.

Saturday evening, the Sublette County Fair brought back some of rodeo’s roots with a team branding competition. These are not the young glamour cowboys of rodeo, but the guys who work everyday with cattle and are willing to show off some of their skills or even get laughed at when things don’t go quite right, which can easily happen when you are working with unpredictable cattle.

The team branding competition pitted teams of four cowboys against four one-year-old heifers in an open corral. Two cowboys on horse first have to rope the 700-1000 pound heifer and get her on the ground. The other two cowboys then run out on foot and secure and brand the heifer.

To secure the heifer, while trying to hold her down, they take the rope off of her neck and place it on both front feet. They also adjust the second rope to secure both hind feet if the heifer was not roped that way. With the ropes adjusted, the cowboys on horse put tension on the ropes, securing the heifer, and the ground cowboys then brand her. Once branded, the ground cowboys return to their waiting corner for the next heifer to be roped. The team has an eight-minute time limit to brand all four heifers or as many as they can get.

In this competition, the branding iron was an “M” using white paint to brand, but in the real world scenario, it would be a hot iron to burn on the brand. Once two heifers have been branded, the cowboys switch places. The ground cowboys mount their waiting horses, and the first two riders dismount, leaving their horses in the waiting corner, and the first two cowboys take their turn to do the ground work. The team trys to brand all four heifers or as many as they can in the time limit. Once the final heifer is branded, all four cowboys and their horses must return to the waiting corner to stop the clock. The fastest team to go through all four animals is the winner.

The fun part is four men, four horses and four uncooperative heifers in a small corral. The cowboys and their horses need to know and trust each other and be ready to react to the inevitable surprise thrown at them by some not-very-happy heifers. That trust, for both the cowboys and their horses, only comes from many, many hours working together and a good understanding of cattle. This event is a great representation of the every day life of working cowboys and the finely-honed skills they learn from years spent riding, roping and working cattle.

The team branding was one of the opening day events of the 2006 Sublette County Fair. Events continue all week through Sunday, August 6th, at the Sublette County Fairgrounds north of Marbleton.

Photos by Clint Gilchrist and Dawn Ballou with Pinedale Online, and Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.



Related Links
  • Sublette County Fair

  • Years of Experience. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Years of Experience
    This veteran cowboy has obviously gotten off his horse plenty of times to pick up his hat, that he doesn't mind the ribbing for wearing a stampede string to keep it on. Fashion-conscious cowboys (and cowgirls), who won't use one, end up having to dismount and chase their hats when they get blown off.

    Bad Catch. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Bad Catch
    There is no way to control a heifer when the head catch slips to her mid-section. The rope has to be removed and the throw redone.

    Dally. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Dally
    When the heifer is roped, the cowboy dallies by wrapping his rope around the saddle horn to allow his horse to hold the heifer.

    Turning the Heifer. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Turning the Heifer
    Once the header has roped the heifer and dallied his rope, he stops his horse to turn the heifer to help the heeler for his throw.

    Tough Pull. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Tough Pull
    Robby and his horse brace as the heifer hits the end of the rope at a run.

    Heeler. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Heeler
    The cowboy leans out of his saddle to get a better shot at the heels.

    Determined Heeler. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Determined Heeler
    Robby provided much entertainment with his 'no hold back' attitude to getting the job done.

    Heeling. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Heeling
    The header turns the heifer, and the heeler throws his rope just in front of the back feet to try to catch both hooves.

    Rearing. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Rearing
    The header's horse rears as the rope is pulled tight around the heifer to turn her for the heeler's throw. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Ready to run. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Ready to run
    The two ground crew cowboys must wait in the corner until their teammates on horses rope the heifer.

    Ground cowboys run out. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Ground cowboys run out
    Once the heifer is roped, the ground cowboys run out with the branding iron. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Running with the iron. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Running with the iron
    The cowboys grab the paint-coated branding iron and run out to the roped calf to do their part.

    Bringing the heifer down. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Bringing the heifer down
    Heifers do not go down as easily with just one back foot caught by the rope. The ground crew has to help bring her down.

    Taking a fall. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Taking a fall
    This cowboy is pushed to the ground as he tries to roll the heifer over onto the ground to position her on the correct side for the branding. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Bringing the heifer down. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Bringing the heifer down
    The ground cowboys have to throw the heifer on her side. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Securing Front Feet. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Securing Front Feet
    The front of the heifer is secured by taking the rope off of her neck and wrapping it around both front feet.

    Securing Back Feet. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Securing Back Feet
    If only a single back foot is roped by the heeler, the ground crew finishes the job by adjusting the rope to hold both back feet. It is important that both the front and rear feet are secured before the branding is done.

    Could be disaster. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Could be disaster
    Once the mounted cowboys have roped the heifer, the ground team must finish securing the ropes. Normally, one rope is taken off and retied at a time, keeping the heifer secured. In the rush against the clock, the cowboys here have taken the ropes off both the front and hind legs at same time, leaving an instant where the heifer isn't secured. The header cowboy pushes the cow's head up and holds her nose while the heeler secures the hind legs. Had the heifer broken free, the entire roping process would have had to be done all over again.

    Everyone watches. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Everyone watches
    There is good-natured ribbing and comraderie as all the cowboys watch the teams take their turns to try and beat the clock and best each other.

    Family of cowboys. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Family of cowboys
    Cowboying is a family affair, with kids seeing all the action and learning the life from a very young age.

    Roll Over. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Roll Over
    This brand has to go on the left side of the animal. After securing the heifer, this one must be rolled over to be in the proper position for placement of the brand.

    Tight Rope. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Tight Rope
    With his hands full and slack in his reins, Charlie has to stretch to pull his horse back and keep the rope tight.

    Branding. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Branding
    The header and heeler keep ropes tight to secure the heifer while the ground cowboys apply the brand.

    Branding. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Branding
    The header's horse rears back while holding the front rope tight as the cowboys on the ground brand the secured heifer.

    Getting ready to brand. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Getting ready to brand
    Typically the animals being branded at real brandings are small, young calves, which wouldn't require so much man-handling.

    Planting the brand. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Planting the brand
    Once the heifer is secure and on the correct side, the branding is done. In a real branding, this would be done with a red hot iron which must stay on the animal for several seconds to burn in the brand. The animal doesn't like this one bit which is why the legs must all be tightly tied to prevent undue injury to the animal and people working nearby to get the job done.

    Releasing the ropes. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Releasing the ropes
    Once the branding is done, the cowboys take the ropes off the heifer's legs and let her go.

    Branded Heifer. Photo by Clint Gilchrist, Pinedale Online.
    Branded Heifer

    Keeping Time. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Keeping Time
    The teams have eight minutes to try to rope and brand all four heifers.

    Rope and saddle. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Rope and saddle
    Cowboy's saddle. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Cowboy Boots. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.
    Cowboy Boots
    Some cowboys wear their jeans inside their boots, some on the outside. Photo by Tara Bolgiano, Blushing Crow Photography.

    Gettin er done. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Gettin er done
    This team works with precision to get the heifer branded.

    Winner Congratulations. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Winner Congratulations
    The winning team congratulates each other.
    Pinedale Online > News > July 2006 > Real Rodeo – Team Branding

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