After weeks of cloudy gray days, we finally got some summer weather on the good old Banning Lewis Ranch: blue skies from dawn to dusk, with a nice breeze blowing through the grass that’s getting greener by the day. Everything was going great!Then, the fourth Saturday in May, these guys rounded me, my mom and all the others up and herded us into a pen.
And this joker on a horse threw a rope around my neck and this other yahoo tripped me, got me on my back, shoved his knee in my stomach and put this stupid metal thing on my ear.
Then, they separated us little ones from our moms, who stood on the other side of the fence and moo-ed at us. A lot of good that did!
These guys on horses roped us again, but this time by the back feet; and, one by one, we got pulled out of the pen. Suddenly, somebody stuck a sharp needle in me, and it felt like my butt was on fire. I could smell smoke and everything!
Finally, they let me go, and my mom came and got me.She told me this happens every year to the new guys, and they invite people to watch it all happen. Afterward, they have a barbeque.I’m sure glad I’m a girl. The boys all look different now, like something is missing.I kind of like the metal thing on my ear, now, and my butt feels OK, too. I think they call it “body art,” and it looks really cool for something that was so hot at first.
