Despite cattle ranchers in Colorado enduring the worst draught in recent memory, the traditional skills of Cowboys are being kept alive in branding season.
Roundups are part of daily life with everyone pitching in on each other’s herds to speed the process up and keep everyone safe.
The heat hits one hundred degrees at about mid morning and there is no possibility of a break until all the branding work is done. Calves born early in the season have matured and are bigger, stronger and more difficult to handle.
It takes about ten years practice to master the skills of roping and branding to be useful in the coral. Teamwork is tight and the entire process of branding, inoculations and tagging is done with virtually no spoken communication. All experienced hands know intuitively what is to be done in which order and by whom. When things start getting unpredictable lightning fast reactions are required.
All work is conducted is aimed to create minimal stress to the animals as they are a precious possession and usually the only source of income.
Photography Simon Carter.