Ridin' for the Brand...

It has been a long time...so it seems...since the baby calves started being born. After surviving a very long, cold spring, we brought them home from the church farm for branding, shots and being put out on pasture. They really did look like they needed some warm weather and good, green grass. After a summer of lush meadow grass up past their bellies and beautiful sunshine, they looked like an entirely new herd of cows. The babies had put on hundreds of pounds and had shiny, healthy coats. Friday was the big round-up. Allen took the day off and worked with Earl all day rounding up, giving shots, branding the young ones and getting them ready to ship.

The Averett's have created a very efficient set of corrals, so the cattle are taken up to the old McNeil area for all the separating and preparations. This is the process:


Enter down the chute to be loaded into the cattle trucks.
One of the best little cattle men around...Elijah with a stick for prodding...just in case.
Noah also knows just what to do to help Grandpa
Rick looks like a serious cattle man!
Here they come....they're nervous and confused and don't know quite where they are going.
They crowd in to the trailer simply because they don't know what else to do.
I think Tim has done this before, as he seems to know just what to do to get the cattle to load.

The next step is a trip to Wanship in the trailer where the cattle are unloaded and penned until the buyer has a chance to inspect each animal.


The door swings open, but the cattle are not sure what to do. Should they get out or what?

The cowboys are ready to herd and push the cattle where ever they need to go.
They exit the trailer and are pushed into a pen to wait for the buyer to come along and see if he likes what he sees.
It is a waiting game, not only for the cattle, but also the anxious seller!
#39 wonders if she likes this new game or not! I whisper to her to smile and stand up tall and try to look her very best!
What a beautiful animal and I might say, that crossed arrows brand look good.
Here he is...the guy who decides if your cattle are worth buying! He carries a giant fly-swatter looking tool to separate the cattle as he decides which one will go and which ones should stay.
I don't know if I am taking in enough oxygen at this point. The outcome of this man's decision really does decide if you make any money. This guy holds the power and nothing gets past him!
I felt like it was a giant beauty pageant and boy...does this guy have a good eye!
This is the cutest clerk ....and besides looking good, she bakes the best cookies ever! I am not sure if they are to soften the blow if your cattle don't get selected, or if it is to celebrate when they do, but whatever...the cookies are marvelous!


"MC NEIL!" The judge guy shouts. Earl walks up to him...he stuck out his hand to shake Earl's hand. The actual buyer...the guy with the $...then walks over and shakes Earl's hand as well. And this is the point when I could actually exhale and breathe again! Every single animal we sent was selected!

The deal is done as the gate clanks shut with our cattle...now theirs...on the other side and a year's work is going to the bank!