HOW TO READ A BRAND

A BRAND IS ALWAYS READ from left to right, from the top down, or from the outside in. It should be as simple as possible, good looking, difficult to blot or smear, easy to make, hard to alter, and easy to name or describe.

With a few of the basics, even a greenhorn can learn to read a number of brands. By placing a quarteror half-circle facing up under a letter or figure, you have a rocking brand, such as the Rocking A A. Placing the same circle facing down above a figure makes it a swinging brand, such as the Swinging WW. Positioning a figure on its face or back makes it lazy, sometimes designated as left or right lazy, such as the Left Lazy 5 or Right Lazy 5. Putting feet on a figure that faces backward makes the mark a dragging brand, such as the Dragging MM. Turning the feet forward, the mark becomes a walking brand, such as the Walking A A. By adding wings to a figure it becomes a flying brand, as the Flying UU, or a running mark, such as the famous Running W of the King's Ranch W. Turning a figure backward or reversing it makes it a backward or reverse s 2.

When two or more figures, letters, or combinations are side by side on a brand, they are described as two, three, or more blocks long; more often, the lingo is shortened to simply two, three, or more blocks. By stacking the figures vertically they are described as two, three, or more stories high.

If two or more figures in a brand connect, they are simply called connected, such as the Havasupai Indian tribe's Small H, Lazy T Connected 2 Blocks.

When a letter or figure hangs from another, it is a hanging mark and the designation of stories becomes unnecessary. An example would be the Lazy S, Hanging (Left) TumblingJ If two or more figures or letters are designed to form an integral part of each other, they are usually combined, as the Forty-Five brand which technically would be called Four, Five Combined 1½ Story 5. Although reading brands may be a little confusing at first, once you get the hang of the basics you'll be able to read them like an old cowpuncher. However, a number of intricate and decorative brand designs of Spanish and Mexican origin or influence do not follow the usual number and letter patterns and are puzzling to even the most experienced brand reader. AH