“These are the times that try men's souls.” | Rich, it's totally different roping in a arena than out on the range or at home in the corrals. You take most rodeo cowboys they can't catch anything but a cold out in the open. It just takes practice, and practice. I don't ever take the time to rope much, only time is when I've got to catch a runaway calf when trailing cattle or to doctor something. I'm forty-three years old and I still haven't earned the right to rope at branding! All my ropers are 70 years+ old. I tell everybody I'll be on S.S. before they let me!
I get so damm mad at the town cowboys that come to trail cattle, and first thing they have their ropes down, trying to heel a calf. Next thing you know they have turned the calf back and he is running 90 back to where you just came from! Then you got half the herd wanting back. I've threatened to cut a few ropes a time or too. That's a hard thing to teach somebody, when to try and practice when trailing cattle, you don't do it just right out of the gate, they need to wait till the cattle get the run out of them.
I have to admit I cheat a lot, I use a sheep hook to catch 2-3 day old calves off the 4-wheeler. It's pretty darn slick to do! I've also been able to run about one month old calves with a 4-wheeler and tail the calf to catch them. You better be on good open flat ground.
Just last Friday, a buddy called and said I had a cow in trouble calving on the desert, 25 miles from home, and 5 miles from a corral. So I loaded a horse and called another buddy to go with me. We found her, he heeled the cow, and I went to pullin calf's. She had the first one started out right but, the secound one was coming right out at the same time with his head under the hips of the first one. They were hip locked and dead( for at least 2-3 days). As I pulled the first one, here come the second one, I've never had one like that! Talk about make you loose your lunch smell! We had her done and turned loose in 20 minutes. That's the value of a good ranch roper. Other than I would like to throw the rope away, it still smells! |
Can you throw a rope?
