Calves Vs. Cowboys: Who Wins?

In the end of the last post I told you that The Prairie Kid and I were off to watch The Prairie Daddy brand a few calves. There were five to be exact. We showed up down at the barn and immediately I was told that I would need to help with vaccination needles so I knew my camera was getting put to the wayside. Before I was needed I was able to catch a quick view of the two teams: The Calves and The Cowboys.

The Calves

The Cowboys team included The Prairie Daddy, his brother, and a hand from the other ranch.

Who would you guess will win this game?

Now usually we use a calf table, like the one from this Spring's branding at Dad's place:

Today the plan was to just wrestle the calves to the ground and hold them down while they were "worked on." Here is a picture from a local branding of a calf being held down "wrestler style."

What's the difference between using a table vs. wrestling? Well, if you ask The Cowboys today it is a bloody nose, lots of bruises and a fat lip. In other words, the table holds the calf in place while the wrestling is, well, wrestling.

The Prairie Kid was safe behind me, and I was safe behind a gate while The Cowboys went and peeled off their first calf. What does "peeled off" mean? Well, they just walk up and move in such a way to get one calf away from the rest and bring it up the alley on its own. After peeling the calf off, they move it into a place where they can trap it with a gate and then they wrap their arms around it and turn to to lay on it's side on the ground (wrestling). One guy holds the upper end, the other the lower end and then one works on the calf.

The first calf kicked The Hand in the face and bloodied his nose, sent everyone somewhat a flyin' and got away. At this point The Prairie Kid started crying in fear and I had to take him out of the area since it was obvious this wasn't going to be a smooth operation! He opted to sit in the truck while we had a rodeo.

Calves 1 Cowboys 0

They got another calf. This one fought but didn't have the strength to pull through a victory.

Calves 1 Cowboys 1

I am not sure if it was the next calf that got through the fence or not but I know one did. Later he lost but that left us at:

Calves 2 Cowboys 1

And another calf managed to get loose and seriously sent The Hand flying into the dirt on his back.

Calves 3 Cowboys 1

Eventually every calf lost the battle and got The Works but they sure gave The Cowboys a run for their money! I'd say overall The Calves won the game. Too bad their trophy was a burnt hip, 3 shots, new ear tags, and the little boys no longer have their family jewels. Man, rough compensation!

I ended up running ear taggers, needles, and nut-cutting-off buckets to and from The Prairie Daddy as the other two tried to keep the calves on the ground. I don't quite know how but I ended up with manure all over my jeans and blood splatter on my arms. It's time for a shower!

To think I almost stayed home to blog instead of going down to The Rodeo.