Ready To Rope!

I have been doing a lot of roping this year. When I practice on an old tree stump out in the playground, I almost always get the rope loop over the stump. If I don’t practice for a while, I miss the stump more often and it takes me a while to get it.

One of America’s greatest ropers was Will Rogers. Will Rogers joined the Texas Jack’s Wild West Show and Circus where he worked as a trick roper, twirling an eighty-foot rope in a great circle above the audience. Rogers soon was able to throw two ropes at once, one in each hand, catching a horse and a rider! Will Rogers became known as the Cherokee Kid because he was part Cherokee Indian.

The Spaniards, who brought the first horses to America, introduced roping in 1519. Their skill was soon passed on to the Mexicans, who in Spanish called it the “la reata,” meaning “the rope.” That’s where the word lariat came from. I used to call lariats lassos, but lassoing is what you do when you throw the rope. The real name is lariat.

Most lariats are made from stiff nylon or polyester rope and usually measure about 28 to 35 feet long. The lariat has a small, reinforced loop at the end called a Honda or a Hondo, in which the rope passes to form the lariat. The Honda loop can be made from another loop knot or a metal ring.

I have tried throwing two ropes at once, but it did not turn out so well. It would be cool to be as good as Will Rogers. I have lassoed lots of animals, such as dogs, cats, sheep, and even a rooster! Not too long ago, I lassoed one of our spring calves! It was not so hard roping it, but it was hard holding the calf down while Dad castrated it and removed the noose from its neck.

There are two stumps in the playground, one is a lot bigger than the other and in order to lasso the bigger one, I have to make the loop in my rope a lot wider. The largest trick loop in roping history, was made by Ray Kozak in McMinnville, Tennessee on October 2, 2016. It was 33.949 meters! You have to adjust the lariat size depending on what you are trying to lasso.

It has been fun roping this summer. I really have enjoyed the challenges of roping different objects. I am looking forward to the next time our lariat is needed to catch sheep, calves or chickens. I have been practicing and I am ready to rope!

~Samuel