Cattle Roping Techniques

Roping is a means of handling cattle, particularly range cattle, when they need to be branded, castrated or doctored. There are two basic methods of roping. One is the fast, flashy style of sport associations like the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association and the Calf Roping Association. The other is ranch roping which is slower, quieter and gentler on everyone involved. Ranch roping is part of the modern revival of the vaquero horsemanship imported to California from Spain and Portugal, a tradition once in danger of disappearing.

  1. Tie-down or Calf Roping

    • Calf roping is a rodeo sport.

      When most people think of roping cattle, they probably think of this rodeo event. A little calf, running away as fast as it can, is chased by a human on a horse. The rider whirls a lariat over his head, pops the loop over the calf's head, the horse slides to a stop and the calf hits the end of that rope at a dead run. While the horse keeps the rope taut, often keeping the stunned calf from rising, the rider dismounts, "pigging" string between teeth, runs to the calf and ties any three of its feet together.

    Team Roping

    • Team roping requires timing and cooperation between two humans and two horses.

      This rodeo event is probably the next thing people think of, when they think of roping cattle. Two cowboys on two horses chase a cow. One cowboy pops the loop of his lariat over the horns, the head or the neck while the other cowboy catches one or both back hooves. Between them, the horses hold the cow in place.

    Heads and Hooves

    • Both these rodeo events have a certain truth to them. Cattle have only a few handles: their heads and their hooves. A human needs a horse, and sometimes another horse-human team, on the end of a rope to help immobilize an animal weighing hundreds of pounds who really doesn't want to be handled. But there are literally dozens of ways for one or two humans to actually put a rope or ropes around the cow's head or hooves. These different techniques depend on how big your loop is, whether you throw it overhand or underhand, pass it around your body or the cow's body. These different throws are used in different situations, for example to help turn a cow or a calf to the left or the right.

    Ranch Roping

    • Ranch roping employs an entirely different attitude even when the acts are technically the same as rodeo roping, such as popping a loop over a calf's head. A ranch roper tries to rope the calf at a walk, then tighten down on the calf so it can't work up the speed to hit the rope hard and hurt itself. If that's not possible, a ranch roper will dally the rope around the saddle horn, which is wrapped with "mulehide" (split cowhide), then play the dally out, using friction to slow the calf down. Ranch roping is slower, quieter and far more thoughtful than rodeo roping because it's not a sport, even when it's a competition. It's a method of handling cattle all day, every day, with a minimum of stress, pain and injury for cattle, horses and humans.