Cattle Branding

so a couple weeks ago we got invited to this guys place to do some good 'ole branding of calves. its something i've never done before and thought it would be interesting to try at least once in your life. so we headed up to burrville (pop. 7.......... try 8! in the middle of nowhere utah). here's what followed:
me and cody (actually found out we served in indiana at the same time- it was his place we went to). check out the iron grip!

i was the back-up in case the calf got past cody. as you can see there is no calf in sight. so much for my iron grip....

yep, that one definitely got away from us. stupid thing just stand still! its only getting some shots and seering your skin off! they're feisty little buggers

where's garlan when all the hard work is being done? nowhere to be seen! good job guys

well done with the shots ladies. we'd pull 'em down and they'd jump right in and pump the calves full of this stuff. luckily there were no drug addicts in the vicinity, look at those needles!

wow, that stuff freakin reaked. nothing like burnt hair and skin wafting into your face

yaaaaay, my first time on a horse! dont i just look the part? i swear i'm a natural. okay so i was semi-scared that it would get spooked and i'd totally get bucked off. luckily that didnt happen

check it out, thats what i call getting things done. look at all them cows scared of me. i gotta admit, its pretty dang cool ridin a horse around rounding up cattle. cant say as i'm a fan of all the bouncing around as it gallops tho, starts to do a number on..... well you guys can fill in the blank(s)

this was the group of us. quite the rag-tag crew wouldnt ya say? thats kristi who i have my arm around, the girl i've been dating. nothing like sweet manure and breying cows to bring out a romance eh? (in case you cant tell, thats karlie right in front of us, kristi's sister)

another one of me and kristi. dont let the face fool you, i was happy to be there

it was quite the experience. i'd def try it again sometime. i was a bit of a lightweight tho cause i didnt do much of the actual wrastling of the cows. they'd get 'em on the ground and i'd jump in. still ended up getting kicked in both shins tho. dumb calves.

and a story: so i'm not used to eating breakfast. i cant eat a lot right when i get out of bed, but they had such good food i couldnt resist. plus we had a big day ahead of us so i needed some energy. anyways, after about 30 min of being out there, chasing cows around, stepping in and smelling manure. sitting there holding a leg while that awful smell drifted right into you, i'd about had it. i told kristi "i think i'm feeling sick..... yeah, i'm prob gonna throw up." so i wander aways away and yep, let it all out. felt great after tho! but give me a break, the same thing happened in bball tryouts in high school. i'd had a whole bunch of orange juice right before and after running lines for a bit i had to step outside and ralph. i'm positive that had i not had any breakfast i would've been just fine. needless to say i felt like such a pansy! "ah, poor little guy cant handle a litte cattle branding. why dont you just step to the side and let us men take care of it." anyways, a little embarrassing but oh well. what can ya do?