Daybreak
I love saddling up before daybreak and long-trotting into large pastures in which I’ve never been. I never get tired of the cool morning air and warm glow on the eastern horizon. At Bill Smith’s colt branding in July, 33 riders evidently felt the same way. They didn’t mind rolling out of bed at 5:30, or sooner, to saddle up and gather Smith’s broodmare band in West Texas. It certainly doesn’t require 33 cowboys to round up 49 mares and their foals, but a mob of saddle-bound “helpers” filed in behind Smith anyway. They trotted over red dirt and mesquite brush to the north, and in less than two hours they were back, thoroughly surrounding those mare-colt pairs.
I hauled my horse to the event and trotted along, but I had to double-back early in order to set up for photos. Later in the afternoon, after the foals had been branded, most of the mob helped herd the horses back to their pasture. Even with the temperature above 100 degrees, they were glad to help. I followed along, this time setting aside my camera and simply enjoying another ride on my young bay mare.