How To Pick A Rodeo Rope

Rodeo originally arose from the cattle herding practices in Spain, Mexico and the Western United States, and has since developed into a popular sporting event highlighting the skills of vaqueros and cowboys. Today, rodeo consists of several events designed to test the skill and speed of the athletes who participate. Timed rodeo events included barrel racing, steer wrestling, calf roping and team roping, and frequently mirror a real life cowboys tasks of capturing cattle for branding or medical treatment. A lasso, or rope loop is thrown over the calves head or heels and then secured. Rodeo contestants are scored on how accurate they capture the steer and how quickly they are able to complete their task.

In this free video series, get tips and techniques for rodeo team roping, an event where men and women riders compete together to capture and restrain a full-grown steer. Our expert will give step by step instructions from the basics of tying a rope loop, to positioning steer, and finally roping the head or heel of the steer. You'll learn how competitions are scored, and even how to choose the best partner. So grab your horse and your ten gallon hat, and let's head off to the rodeo!

"This is Randall Powell with Expert Village and in this clip, we are going to talk about rope selection for team roping. Your rope is probably the most important tool in team roping. When you need to buy a new rope, like this rope here is an old rope. It is just a practice rope that I have. You can tell it has several kinks and quirks in it. That is when it is kind of time to buy a new rope. There are two types of ropes. There are head ropes and heel ropes. The head ropes are a lot softer and generally they are 30 foot long instead of 35. The heel ropes are stiffer ropes and they are 35 foot long. There are different lays in the ropes. The head ropes come in extra soft and soft. Actually some people head with the medium soft and then the heel rope comes in medium soft, medium, hard medium, medium hard and so on but they are a lot stiffer ropes the heel ropes. They are also quite a bit longer. When you get a new rope, you need to take this end of it and tie it to a pole and with the other end dally on your saddle horn and stretch the rope and just kind of pop it whenever you get it really tight. It gets all the wax off of it and you put a little coat of baby powder on the rope and it will keep it having a little more ax and a little longer. The selection of a good rope; these are nylon and polyester blend. These ropes are for team roping and that is generally what you would use. You find a rope that fits you pretty good and one that feels good whenever you are swinging it. That is how you select new ropes for team roping."