A STAKE, A INNER TUBE AND A PAINT HORSE

WHILE AT THE 76  I FOUND IT HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND GOOD DAY HELP AT BRANDING TIME. SOME OF THE LOCAL BOYS WERE MORE APT TO RIDE A BAR STOOL THAN A GOOD HORSE.  I guess in my older years I became less tolerant of braggerts and gunsels who lied about their experience on the ranch.   I woke up one day to the cold fact that finding flankers was getting down right impossible. everyone was a rider and roper and didn't want to eat dust or smell burnnin hair. and none of them had a clue how to vaccinate let alone casterate or ear mark.  we went one works short handed. another old puncher, me , my college age son, a wore out, over weight brand inspecter, and a couple women. it took us for ever to gather, and work 500 cows, brand the calves and tally out.  the next year I had read about a stake and inner tube  arrangement  that would hold the front feet of the calf while the ropers horse held  the back. the roper would heel the calf , drag him out of the herd past the stake with the foot rope attached to the inner tube attached to the stake. one ground man would slip the foot rope on the front feet and the horse and rider would pull everything tight with the inner tube allowing some spring in the tension. one person could then work the calf, brand, vaccinate, and casterate if needed. worked slick, and didn't need six or eight people.
      one year a good hand came to day work with us. he had two good paint horses and I was tickled to have him along. when we started branding calves I tried to make sure every one got a turn to rope.  when russ, the guy with the paint horse started roping things speeded up a bit. we were moving right along when russ comes to the stake with one of the bigger calves. ole paint was down close to the ground pullining into the breast coller as he trotted by the stake. I grabbed the foot rope and strung both front feet on the calf as he slide by. I held the rope snug until ole paint took the slack out and the innertube started to streach.  I turned to grab a branding iron when a slamming hit and pain hit the back of my leg. it knocked down and numbed the leg so I couldn't stand. I looked up and the calf was scrambling to to his feet that paint horse was right up in the corral corner and russ was trying to get him turned around, but he was sulled and mad. that paint bugger had took the bit, pulled the pin or stake out of the ground and with the stretch  on the inner tube it had shot up the rope catching me in the back of the leg. after a while the feeling came back in my leg and I could stand and we went back to work, except ole paint was tied to the fence this time.