Ranch Roping

In the afternoon we would go into the indoor arena for the Ranch Roping clinic.  Where the Horsemanship class had all sorts of horses in it, this one was full of high dollar, gorgeous, ranch geldings.  Ranch roping is different from team roping.  They use big loops and the emphasis is on keeping the cattle calm rather than on speed.

The first day Buck had them hobble their horses and work with their ropes on the ground.  One of the horses freaked out and ran all around the arena so Buck roped him and all was well again.  After they were confident with the 4 basic shots, they got on horses and practiced them some more.  Then they brought in the cows.  Buck divided the participants into 4 groups.  One groups would work with the real cows down at one end of the arena, and the others would practice their shots on dummies down at the other end.  As soon as the team had roped three calves, it would be the next teams turn.

Buck says you point your horses nose to where you want to cut the herd, and knife slice right in cutting out the 3 or 4 calves you want.  The other team member help by blocking their escape routes and angling them back around in a circle.  Then you can take your time, choose the calf you want, and rope it. 

The boys sat on the fence and heard all the side dialog, which they said was very informative.  I got a lot of insight too, not all of it useful.  For instance someone asked Buck about using a Reata.  Buck said, "a reata is like a cheating wife..." and then gave a big dissertation along those lines, which I won't write down here, even though it was very informative.  

It was an awesome clinic!