Brands are used to permanently mark cattle or horses with a unique image or set of characters. The origin of branding livestock dates from 2700 B.C.
Today brands are documented in brand books maintained by state officials or in a few cases by cattle associations. My families 100 year old brand is shown on the left (the lazy BL) and is registered in New Mexico and California.
Brands are composed of letters, numerals, symbols, monograms in various combinations. The brand is “read” from top to bottom, from outside to inside and from left to right. Capital letters are called “big” when reading the brand, dash means a bar, shapes are read as their name suggests, letters leaning backwards are called lazy, leaning forward it’s running, if it sits on a quarter circle it’s rocking.
Most branding today is done with a hot iron but I’ve written about a new technique called freeze branding. Putting the brand on correctly is an acquired skill and one you really want to get done the first time. Left on too long it burns the cow; too short a time and it doesn’t leave a brand, only a sore spot. You want the entire brand to show, not just part of it. One trick is to rock the branding iron a little as it’s pressed down. This lets it burn more uniformly. Cattle are usually branded on hips and ribs.
Cows certainly don’t like it but done correctly it doesn’t hurt the animal because of their thick hides. It creates a scar where the hide hair won’t grow.
Studying brands can be fascinating because they really are about the brand owner and the history they have. A good book is The Manual of Brands and Marks by Manfred R. Wolfenstine which you can buy HERE.