First American Cowgirl

 The First American Cowgirl....Lucille Mulhall

Equally skilled with rifle, lariat and horse, a teenager from Oklahoma named Lucille Mulhall became America’s first cowgirl. Will Rogers wrote that Lucille's achievement in competition with cowboys was the 'direct start of what has since come to be known as the Cowgirl'. He continued to write, “there was no such a word up to then as Cowgirl”. It was coined to describe her after she beat dozens of cowboys in a 1904 cattle-roping competition that set world records.

Lucille Mulhall was born on October 21, 1885, in St. Louis, Missouri to Colonel Zack and Agnes Mulhall. Native American tribes still roamed the open grassland of the Mulhall Ranch when Lucille was growing up. Wolves prowled the prairie, preying on the Mulhall livestock. Cowhands were a vital part of ranching; roping, branding, round-ups and shooting were practical skills instead of pastimes. The little blonde girl with blue-gray eyes was an eager student for the ranch hands and cowboys who lived in the bunkhouses of the Mulhall spread. Lucille, instead of learning piano or sewing like her sisters, learned to toss a lariat and tie a steer. Lucille learned her horsemanship and skills from the Cowboys who rode the cattle drives of the Old West.

Lucille Mulhall was a cowgirl long before she entertained crowds with feats of horsemanship on Governor, her trained horse. By the age of 7, she was riding around her father’s 80,000-acre ranch. Cowboys who rode the plains of the Indian Territories tutored her in the art of lassoing. Zack Mulhall claimed that when his daughter was 13, he told her she could keep as many of his steers as she could rope in one day. Lucille, he bragged, didn’t quit until she lassoed more than 300 cattle! "By the age of fourteen,” the New York Times reported, "She could break a bronco and shoot a coyote at 500 yards.” Teddy Roosevelt was among Lucille’s fans. While campaigning in Oklahoma as a vice presidential candidate in 1900, Roosevelt first saw the blonde teenager perform. It was the Fourth of July, and Lucille roped in front of a crowd of 25,000 people at a "Cowboy Tournament.” The Daily Oklahoman reported, "Roosevelt was most enchanted with the daring feats of Lucille Mulhall.” "She rode beautifully throughout the contest and lassoed the wildest steer in the field.”

Teddy Roosevelt was so dazzled by the 14-year-old’s skills that he invited the Mulhalls to join him and a select group of Rough Rider veterans at a private dinner. That night Lucille gave the hero of the charge up San Juan Hill the silk scarf she had worn during the Cowboy Tournament.

When Zack Mulhall reciprocated the dinner invitation by asking Roosevelt to stay at his ranch, Teddy readily accepted. After watching Lucille’s daredevil antics on the ranch, Roosevelt encouraged her father to get her more exposure. "Zack, before the girl dies or gets married or cuts up some other caper,” Roosevelt reportedly said, "you ought to put her on the stage and let the world see what she can do.” During that same visit, Roosevelt spent time in the saddle riding alongside Lucille. He saw a gray wolf at a distance, which whetted his appetite for the hunt. The wolf eluded Roosevelt that day, but it didn’t escape Lucille. After Roosevelt left, she hunted down the predator. By one account, she dispatched it with a shot from her Winchester, but in another version she lassoed the creature and clubbed it to death. The pelt was sent to Roosevelt, who displayed it in the White House after he and McKinley won the presidential election that fall. Roosevelt later gave Lucille a saddle and an 1873 Winchester .44-40 that had been presented to him.

Lucille Mulhall, was the first well known cowgirl. She competed with 'real' cowboys - the range hardened cowboys accustomed to riding for days in the saddle; the cowboys who spent many hours branding cattle. Her expert roping skills were a natural talent honed by the skills of another natural roper - Will Rogers. She not only was an expert at using the lariat but she had a natural gift of working with horses. She trained horses to respond to the roping of a steer as well as how to perform a number of what she called 'tricks.' Her trained horses she called 'high schooled horses' and one was particularly famous: "Governor." She claimed her horse, Governor, knew at least forty tricks. He could pull off a man's coat and put it on again, could walk upstairs and down again, a difficult feat. He could sit with his forelegs crossed, could lie down and do just about everything but talk.

In 1904 Lucille competed against the best cowhands from across the Southwest in a roping contest at Dennison, Texas. In this competition she won a belt buckle, declaring her to be the World's Champion Lady Roper. She won three solid gold medals in Texas for steer roping, a trophy for winning a Cutting Horse contest as well as many other medals, trophies and honors. At the turn of the twentieth century Lucille Mulhall was American's greatest cowgirl.

While still in her early teens, Lucille was the top cowboy performer in the West. Extremely feminine, soft-spoken, and well educated, she seemed a paradox, for she was so steel-muscled she could beat strong and talented men at their own games. She could have been a society belle, but she loved the rough, dangerous life of a cowboy. Had she been a man, she would have been content to work on a ranch, but as a woman she was a novelty and the only way she could make use of her singular talents was in show business. The term cowgirl was invented to describe her when she took the East by storm in her first appearance at Madison Square Garden (in 1905). "Against these bronzed and war-scarred veterans of the plains, a delicately featured blonde girl appeared,” a 1905 New York Times profile intoned. "Slight of figure, refined and neat in appearance, attired in a becoming riding habit for hard riding, wearing a picturesque Mexican sombrero and holding in one hand a lariat of the finest cowhide, Lucille Mulhall comes forward to show what an eighteen-year-old girl can do in roping steers.”

In 3 minutes and 36 seconds, she lassoed and tied three steers. "The veteran cowboys did their best to beat it,” the New York Times reported, "but their best was several seconds slower than the girl’s record-breaking time. The cowboys and plainsmen who were gathered in large numbers to witness the contest broke into tremendous applause when the championship gold medal was awarded to the slight, pale-faced girl, and from that day to this Miss Mulhall has been known far and wide throughout the West as the Queen of the Range.”

Lucille had set a new world record. She won a gold medal and a $10,000 prize. Just as she had dazzled Teddy Roosevelt, Lucille now entranced journalists. Newspapers showered her with titles like "Daring Beauty of the Plains” and "Deadshot Girl,” but the one that stuck was "Original Cowgirl.”

Lucille’s career took her to Europe, where she performed for heads of state and royalty. She officially retired in 1917 at age 32. Live Wild West performances were being eclipsed by the rise of Hollywood westerns. Ironically, many of the stars of silent movies, including "King of the Cowboys” Tom Mix, got their start in Zack Mulhall’s Congress of Rough Riders. But as late as the 1930s, Lucille still did exhibition riding on the Mulhall Ranch.

Throughout her life, Lucille remained captivated by show business and more loyal to her father than to any other man. Her two marriages ended in divorce, and she rarely saw her son, born in 1909, because she was always on tour. Though Lucille was a top draw at Wild West shows and had run her own company, "Lucille Mulhall's Round-up," many people considered her an ineffective wife and mother because she had never learned to do "woman's work."

Although Wild West shows became less popular and less financially viable starting in the mid 1910s, Lucille and her brother Charley continued to perform in them through the 1930s. Show attendance dwindled, as did the number of performers. Despite the lack of publicity being given to wild west shows in the shadow of the polio epidemic, the United States' entry into World War I, and then the Great Depression, Lucille seemed unable to pull herself away from the limelight. She made her last known public appearance in September of 1940.

Lucille went back to work at her families ranch, which was located fourteen miles north of Guthrie, Oklahoma, on highway 77. The Mulhall ranch at one time encompassed 80,000 acres of land, much of which was unclaimed land. In addition some land was leased. The original ranch began with 160 acres claimed at the 1889 Oklahoma Land Opening. The Mulhall family operated their show and cattle business from this ranch and had many visitors. Some of their famous visitors were President Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, Tom Mix and even the outlaw Henry Starr. Geronimo also was an admirer of Lucille's talent and gave her a beaded vest and a decorated Indian bow.

Lucille Mulhall died less than a mile from the Mulhall Ranch in an automobile accident on December 21, 1940. She was only 55 years old. In December 1975, she was posthumously inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame.

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Western Horseman the safest most durable 
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History of the Rawhide Riatas....the Vaquero's Rope

The Rawhide Riatas' History

The reata (or riata) was a long braided rawhide rope used by the early Mexican Vaqueros and was no doubt first introduced into Mexico by the Spanish conquerors.

Reata is from the Spanish word reatar, meaning to retie or a rope which ties one animal to another.

Though the word reata is often used to refer to any rope, the genuine Vaquero reata was and is a special item. It was usually 40 to 80 feet long and made from twisted strands of rawhide. The finest riatas used rawhide strands, cut by experts, from the primest part of several young heifer hides. The hides were well chosen and properly cured.

The Riatas are braided in 4, 6, or 8 strands. The 8 strand, if made by a top reatero, is a beautiful article and superb for light roping. For the average hard work on large stock, the 4 strand is the best. Diameters vary according to individual preference, but the 3/8 inch riata is the one most used.

A riata can be different stiffness's (called in roping circles: lays) depending on what type of rawhide is used. For instance, bull hide makes a very stiff rope for heel roping.

The Reateros (Spanish for "rope maker") were masters at the craft of braiding reatas and all other vaquero rawhide tools. Many of these tools were truly works of art. The braiding of the riatas was not only an art form but the braids had uniformity and even tension. This was to insure durable working tool for the Vaquero.

this is Jesse Wilkinson with rawhide riatas he crafted in 1930. 

He learned the art of rawhide braiding as a boy.

The riata was the most useful tool of the Californio Vaquero and he was highly proficient in handling it. The dexterity displayed by the Vaquero ropers impressed the early Americans cowhands and the riata was quickly adopted by them as were other items of equipment used by the vaquero. The riata can be thrown farther, with the use of less energy and retaining a more perfect loop, than any other type of rope on the market.

The Mexican way to treat a riata, to keep it supple, is to tie it between two trees. Then rub it first with lemon juice (cut a fresh lemon in two and rub the fruit along the length) and then rub it with beef fat (suet). This keeps the leather from drying out or becoming stiff. Using artificial products will make the reata too limber.

Old West Cowhands "Rope Talk"

Here is a brief list of some general rope terms used 

by the Old West Cowhands:

Lariat is an Americanization of la reata, Spanish for the rope

Reata is from the Spanish reata, meaning rope, but the American cowhands use it to designate a rawhide rope.

Reata men are hands who use a rawhide rope and they sometimes refer to this rope as a lass rope.

Roping terms used by the cowhands...

rope - to throw a rope,

roped - to have caught something with the rope

roping - the act of catching
looped - caught

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Vaquero, Californio, Buckaroo ......They all mean Cowboy!

Cowboys of the old west were referred to as "Vaquero's", ( spanish word, "Vaca" means cow), "Californio's", "hands", or "cowhands". The term "Cowboy" was rarely used back in the old west. It is more commonly used today.
The word Vaquero pronounced by American Cowboys, was "bukera" and finally "Buckaroo". For a time anyone working cattle, whether in Texas, CA or elsewhere was known as a "Buckaroo". It wasn't until the late 1860's when the Texans began to drive their cattle north to the new railroads in Kansas, that the term "Cowboy" came into widespread use.



Vaqueros were poor, owned no land, probably not even a horse, but he began the noble tradition of the working cowboy that spread from Mexico into the US.

Vaquero's felt superior to farmer's. They were proud of their work, had courage, fortitude, physical endurance, patient, long suffering, and uncomplaining. The Vaquero's worked in bad weather and with aches and pains. They went without food and tracked down stray animals at all costs. They had courage, riding into the midst of a milling herd.





The Vaquero and cowboys expected and valued these qualities. Virtuous actions would not bring praise, but failing to measure up to the Vaquero's standard could bring criticism censure or ridicule.









Jo Mora (cartoonist, illustrator, and Cowboy in the 1800's, pictured here) described the appearance of the Vaquero or Californio, (from the book "Cowboys of the America's" by Richard W Slarta)


"A kerchief was bound about his head, atop which, at a very rakish, arrogant angle sat a trail-worn weather beaten hat wide of brim, low of crown, held in place by a barbiquejo (chin strap) that extended just below the lower lip. His unkempt black beard straggled over his jowls and his long black hair dangled down his back to a little below the line of his shoulders. His ample colonial shirt was soiled and torn and a flash of brown shoulder could usually be seen through a recent tear. The typical wide red Spanish sash encircled his lean midriff. His short pants reaching to his knees, buttoned up the sides and were open for 6 inches or so at the bottom. Long drawers (which were once white) showed wrinkles at the knees and were folded into wrapped leather botas (leggings). He wore a rough pair of buckskin shoes with leather soles and low heels to which were strapped a pair of large and rusty iron spurs. This costume was finished off by a tirador ( a heavy wide at the hips belt) that helped him to snub with the reata (rawhide rope) when lassoing on foot. The ever present long knife in its scabbard was thrust inside the garter on his right leg."




Much of the dress, language, Vaquero horse tack and values of the Mexican and Californio Vaquero's passed to the Anglo American Cowboy. The Vaquero gear, the La reata became the Cowboys Larait (a rope in the form of a lasso). Chaparejos became chaps and the term "Dar la Vuelta" (take a turn) became "dally". Meaning to twist the end of a Lariat around the saddle horn rather than tying it down.





Vaquero Tack offered from Buckaroo Leather.......

Complete Hackamore/Mecate Set

Complete Hackamore Set includes an all natural beautifully hand braided 14 plait 5/8" rawhide bosal w/ Hermann Oak harness head piece attached with Cowboy knot adjustment and a 1/2" cotton 23' Mecate w/braided rawhide button. This Hackamore features our best quality all rawhide core bosal; a beautiful piece of "Old Style" rawhide braiding.

Batwing Shotgun Style Chap

Once you use this Full Grain Leather Chap you will use no other! Batwing Chap in Full Grain Leather in Brown Earth Tones. This Hand Crafted Chap has an amazing extra special Glovey Feel! for that Broke in Feel. This 3 snap Shotgun Style Chap is Straight Edge and has Hand Tooled plaque. You have a choice of Tooling Designs Basket, Wild Rose/Basket, and Acorn/Basket. Fully adjustable waist belt and leg straps.





Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the
Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

Lucille Mulhall-the Fist American Cowgirl!

Equally skilled with rifle, lariat and horse, a teenager from Oklahoma named Lucille Mulhall became America’s first cowgirl. Lucille Mulhall was born on October 21, 1885, in St. Louis, Missouri to Colonel Zack and Agnes Mulhall. There were other horsewomen, of course, like those who rode in William F. "Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West shows, but none were cowgirls.

Lucille Mulhall has been given many different titles. Rodeo Queen, Queen of the Western Prairie, Queen of the Saddle, American's Greatest Horse Woman. But there is no doubt that she was American's First Cowgirl.

Will Rogers wrote that Lucille's achievement in competition with cowboys was the 'direct start of what has since come to be known as the Cowgirl'. He continued to write, “there was no such a word up to then as Cowgirl”. It was coined to describe her after she beat dozens of cowboys in a 1904 cattle-roping competition that set world records.

Native American tribes still roamed the open grassland of the Mulhall Ranch when Lucille was growing up. Wolves prowled the prairie, preying on the Mulhall livestock. Cowhands were a vital part of ranching; roping, branding, round-ups and shooting were practical skills instead of pastimes. The little blonde girl with blue-gray eyes was an eager student for the ranch hands and cowboys who lived in the bunkhouses of the Mulhall spread. Lucille, instead of learning piano or sewing like her sisters, learned to toss a lariat and tie a steer. Lucille learned her horsemanship and skills from the Cowboys who rode the cattle drives of the Old West.

Lucille Mulhall was a cowgirl long before she entertained crowds with feats of horsemanship on Governor, her trained horse. By the age of 7, she was riding around her father’s 80,000-acre ranch. Cowboys who rode the plains of the Indian Territories tutored her in the art of lassoing. Zack Mulhall claimed that when his daughter was 13, he told her she could keep as many of his steers as she could rope in one day. Lucille, he bragged, didn’t quit until she lassoed more than 300 cattle! "By the age of fourteen,” the New York Times reported, "She could break a bronco and shoot a coyote at 500 yards.” Teddy Roosevelt was among Lucille’s fans. While campaigning in Oklahoma as a vice presidential candidate in 1900, Roosevelt first saw the blonde teenager perform. It was the Fourth of July, and Lucille roped in front of a crowd of 25,000 people at a "Cowboy Tournament.” The Daily Oklahoman reported, "Roosevelt was most enchanted with the daring feats of Lucille Mulhall.” "She rode beautifully throughout the contest and lassoed the wildest steer in the field.”

Teddy Roosevelt was so dazzled by the 14-year-old’s skills that he invited the Mulhalls to join him and a select group of Rough Rider veterans at a private dinner. That night Lucille gave the hero of the charge up San Juan Hill the silk scarf she had worn during the Cowboy Tournament.

When Zack Mulhall reciprocated the dinner invitation by asking Roosevelt to stay at his ranch, Teddy readily accepted. After watching Lucille’s daredevil antics on the ranch, Roosevelt encouraged her father to get her more exposure. "Zack, before the girl dies or gets married or cuts up some other caper,” Roosevelt reportedly said, "you ought to put her on the stage and let the world see what she can do.” During that same visit, Roosevelt spent time in the saddle riding alongside Lucille. He saw a gray wolf at a distance, which whetted his appetite for the hunt. The wolf eluded Roosevelt that day, but it didn’t escape Lucille. After Roosevelt left, she hunted down the predator. By one account, she dispatched it with a shot from her Winchester, but in another version she lassoed the creature and clubbed it to death. The pelt was sent to Roosevelt, who displayed it in the White House after he and McKinley won the presidential election that fall. Roosevelt later gave Lucille a saddle and an 1873 Winchester .44-40 that had been presented to him.

Lucille Mulhall, was the first well known cowgirl. She competed with 'real' cowboys - the range hardened cowboys accustomed to riding for days in the saddle; the cowboys who spent many hours branding cattle. Her expert roping skills were a natural talent honed by the skills of another natural roper - Will Rogers. She not only was an expert at using the lariat but she had a natural gift of working with horses. She trained horses to respond to the roping of a steer as well as how to perform a number of what she called 'tricks.' Her trained horses she called 'high schooled horses' and one was particularly famous: "Governor."

She claimed her horse, Governor, knew at least forty tricks. He could pull off a man's coat and put it on again, could walk upstairs and down again, a difficult feat. He could sit with his forelegs crossed, could lie down and do just about everything but talk.

In 1904 Lucille competed against the best cowhands from across the Southwest in a roping contest at Dennison, Texas. In this competition she won a belt buckle, declaring her to be the World's Champion Lady Roper. She won three solid gold medals in Texas for steer roping, a trophy for winning a Cutting Horse contest as well as many other medals, trophies and honors. At the turn of the twentieth century Lucille Mulhall was American's greatest cowgirl.

While still in her early teens, Lucille was the top cowboy performer in the West. Extremely feminine, soft-spoken, and well educated, she seemed a paradox, for she was so steel-muscled she could beat strong and talented men at their own games. She could have been a society belle, but she loved the rough, dangerous life of a cowboy. Had she been a man, she would have been content to work on a ranch, but as a woman she was a novelty and the only way she could make use of her singular talents was in show business. The term cowgirl was invented to describe her when she took the East by storm in her first appearance at Madison Square Garden (in 1905). "Against these bronzed and war-scarred veterans of the plains, a delicately featured blonde girl appeared,” a 1905 New York Times profile intoned. "Slight of figure, refined and neat in appearance, attired in a becoming riding habit for hard riding, wearing a picturesque Mexican sombrero and holding in one hand a lariat of the finest cowhide, Lucille Mulhall comes forward to show what an eighteen-year-old girl can do in roping steers.”


In 3 minutes and 36 seconds, she lassoed and tied three steers. "The veteran cowboys did their best to beat it,” the New York Times reported, "but their best was several seconds slower than the girl’s record-breaking time. The cowboys and plainsmen who were gathered in large numbers to witness the contest broke into tremendous applause when the championship gold medal was awarded to the slight, pale-faced girl, and from that day to this Miss Mulhall has been known far and wide throughout the West as the Queen of the Range.”

Lucille had set a new world record. She won a gold medal and a $10,000 prize. Just as she had dazzled Teddy Roosevelt, Lucille now entranced journalists. Newspapers showered her with titles like "Daring Beauty of the Plains” and "Deadshot Girl,” but the one that stuck was "Original Cowgirl.”

Lucille’s career took her to Europe, where she performed for heads of state and royalty. She officially retired in 1917 at age 32. Live Wild West performances were being eclipsed by the rise of Hollywood westerns. Ironically, many of the stars of silent movies, including "King of the Cowboys” Tom Mix, got their start in Zack Mulhall’s Congress of Rough Riders. But as late as the 1930s, Lucille still did exhibition riding on the Mulhall Ranch.

Throughout her life, Lucille remained captivated by show business and more loyal to her father than to any other man. Her two marriages ended in divorce, and she rarely saw her son, born in 1909, because she was always on tour. Though Lucille was a top draw at Wild West shows and had run her own company, "Lucille Mulhall's Round-up," many people considered her an ineffective wife and mother because she had never learned to do "woman's work."

Although Wild West shows became less popular and less financially viable starting in the mid 1910s, Lucille and her brother Charley continued to perform in them through the 1930s. Show attendance dwindled, as did the number of performers. Despite the lack of publicity being given to wild west shows in the shadow of the polio epidemic, the United States' entry into World War I, and then the Great Depression, Lucille seemed unable to pull herself away from the limelight. She made her last known public appearance in September of 1940.

Lucille went back to work at her families ranch, which was located fourteen miles north of Guthrie, Oklahoma, on highway 77. The Mulhall ranch at one time encompassed 80,000 acres of land, much of which was unclaimed land. In addition some land was leased. The original ranch began with 160 acres claimed at the 1889 Oklahoma Land Opening. The Mulhall family operated their show and cattle business from this ranch and had many visitors. Some of their famous visitors were President Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, Tom Mix and even the outlaw Henry Starr. Geronimo also was an admirer of Lucille's talent and gave her a beaded vest and a decorated Indian bow.

Lucille Mulhall died less than a mile from the Mulhall Ranch in an automobile accident on December 21, 1940. She was only 55 years old. In December 1975, she was posthumously inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame.


Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the
Western Horseman the safest most durable

Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand

Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand

Visit Our Unique Store Today

Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

Team Roping Equipment and History

Team roping also known as, heading and heeling, is a rodeo event that features a steer and two mounted riders. The communication and teamwork between the header and the heeler is vital to a successful team. But, if you do not have a properly trained horse or the proper horse tack to allow for good communication to your horse, the team will not be successful.

Team roping is a huge draw in rodeo events. To watch the teamwork and skill between riders and horse is an exciting display of horsemanship of both present day Cowboys and the Cowboys of the Old West.

Below is a description of the Team Roping Event

The first roper is referred to as the "header.” The header is the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around the horns, then turns the steer so its hind legs can be roped by the second person the "heeler.”

Steers used for roping are moved from a holding corral through a series of narrow runways that lead to the roping arena. The runways allow the steers to be lined up in single file. Then, one at a time, a steer is moved into a chute with spring loaded doors in front and a solid gate behind, so that only one animal is released at a time. On each side of the chute is an area called the box it is big enough to hold a horse and a rider.

The header is on one side (usually the left, for a right-handed header) and the heeler, will start from the box on the other side of the chute. A taut rope, called the barrier, runs in front of the header's box and is fastened to an easily released rope on the neck of the steer of a designated length, used to ensure that the steer gets a head start. An electronic barrier, consisting of an electric eye connected to a timing device, is sometimes used in place of th e barrier rope. When the header is ready, he or she calls for the steer and an assistant pulls a lever, opening the chute doors. The freed steer breaks out running. When the steer reaches the end of the rope, the barrier releases.

The header must rope the steer with one of three legal catches: a clean horn catch around both horns, a neck catch around the neck or a half-head catch around the neck and one horn. The header then takes a dally-a couple of wraps of the rope around the horn of the saddle. Once the header has made the dally, the rider turns the horse, usually to the left, and the ste er will follow, still running. The heeler waits until the header has turned the steer. When he or she has a clear throw, the heeler throws a loop of rope under the running steer's hind legs and catches them. As soon as the heeler also dallies tight, the header turns his or her horse to directly face the steer and heeler. Both horses back up slightly to stretch out the steer's hind legs, immobilizing the animal. As soon as the steer is stretched out, an official waves a flag and the time is taken. The steer is released and trots off.

There is a 5 second penalty for roping only one hind leg and a 10 second penalty for breaking the barrier. Team roping is the only rodeo event where men and women compete equally together in a professionally sanctioned competition, in both single gender and mixed gender teams.

A successful professional-level team takes between 4 and 12 seconds to stretch the steer, depending on the length of the arena. At lower levels, a team may take longer, particularly if the heeler misses the first throw and has to try again. At higher levels, the header and the heeler are allowed only one throw each, if either misses, the team gets no score.

Team Roping History

Team roping grew out of the cowboys working on the ranches in the old west. It was necessary to capture and restrain a full-grown animal that was too large to handle by a single man. Larger cattle would have to be immobilized for branding and doctoring by two ropers due to their strength and size. Today, as in the old west, team roping is a timed event that relies on the cooperation and skill of the cowboys and their horses.

Horses used in Team Roping

Another important aspect to the event is the type of horses used by the ropers. The American quarter horse is the most popular among all timed-event competitors, particularly team ropers. Heading horses generally are taller and heavier because they need the power to turn the steer after it is roped. Heeling horses are quick and agile, enabling them to better follow the steer and react to its moves.

Horse Equipment used by Team Ropers

Rope - used to rope the steer. The rope is made of synthetic fibers, or a more traditional cowboy rope is made from rawhide. The Header ropes are 30ft long and are soft. The Heelers ropes are 35ft long and stiffer than the Headers ropes.

Lariat Rope- (lasso) is a loop of rope that is designed to be thrown around a target and tighten when pulled. It is also a well known tool of the American Cowboy.

Pulling Breast Collar- Pulling breast collars are popular among Western riders, particularly ropers. Instead of crossing a horse's chest from side-to-side like some other styles, pulling breast collars sit just above the line of a horse's shoulders and buckle around the pommel of the saddle. This style of Breast Collar allows the horse more freedom of shoulder movement and better leverage when pulling.

Roping Breast Collar with an over the neck Wither Strap- this will have the best up and over the shoulder fit for a good pulling position for the horse and rider.

Nosebands and Roping Tie Downs-used to help keep the horses head down and out of your line of sight.



Roping gloves- Used to prevent rope burns on the hands of the ride rs.

A Western saddle - a particularly strong design with double rigging and other specialized features, including a rubber wrap around the saddle horn to keep the dally from slipping.

A good quality Roping Mohair Cincha is required for the best support.A wider Western Roping Flank Cincha is also best to hold the back of your saddle down when dallied.


Quality Leather Roping Reins and a leather Bridle.

Team Roping Techniques

Headers swing their loops overhead in a smooth, flat motion, aim for the back of the steer's head and release the loop. When the roper releases, he or she is to stop the hand open, flat, and palm down at the point where the loop is thrown.

Heelers use a different technique; a right-handed heeler will twirl the loop on the left side of the rider's body, always keeping the tip of the loop on the left side so that when the loop is thrown, it will go under the steer. Heeling is all about timing; the tip of the loop has to be at its lowest point as the steer's legs are coming forward. The lay of the loop is also very important; it should stand up against the steer's legs with the bottom loop on the ground so the steer will jump right into it.


Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the
Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

The Ropes and Lariats Used by the Vaqueros in the Old West

The Lassos were used by Vaquero’s to hunt wild cattle. Until the late 18^th century, the Vaquero tied the lariat to the horse’s tail. But the development of heavier, more substantial saddles changed this technique. Vaquero’s began wrapping the end of the rope around the horn of their heavy saddles. This wrapping technique called “Dar la Vuelta” ("take a turn" in Spanish) passed over to the American cowboys, who corrupted the Spanish term into “dally” or “dally welter”.

Vaquero’s and the cowboys who copied the practice could slip the rope against the saddle horn and gain leverage against a roped animal. The technique could be hazardous. A thumb caught between the Lariat and saddle horn might be amputated by the whizzing rope.

The Vaqueros skillfully braided long reatas from 4 rawhide stumps. They could make much of their equipment from leather. In making these leather rawhide riatas, the hides were stripped up into long thongs, which were either twisted or plaited with a four or eight plait. Much pounding and rolling was necessary to get them smooth, round, and even, and much greasing to soften and water-proof them. They also wove horsehair into a fine rope called a mecate ("McCarty"- the American corruption)

The Lariats in California ran from 65 to 110 ft in length and about 5/8 of a inch in diameter. In Texas brush country, Vaqueros used shorter ropes that did not become entangled in the underbrush.

In addition to rawhide ropes and horsehair ropes, Vaqueros, used the tough, stringy fiber of the maguey plant to make ropes. Because maguey fiber stiffens in rainy weather, Vaqueros used it only on dry ranges.

Sisal, (pictured here) from the leaves of the agave plant, ran a distant 3^rd to rawhide and maguey as material from ropes.

Vaqueros threw a variety of loops, according to the task at hand. A figure 8 would bring down a running animal. The piale, an under hand toss, caught the animals hind legs as it stepped into the noose. The mangana, an overhand throw opened to catch the animals forefeet.

The Texas Cowboys also used a variety of catches-

Pitch
Slip
Heeling
Backhand slip
Forefooting

By the late 1860’s cowboys had developed the “hoolihan”. The roper swings the loop only once above his head before letting fly. This fast throw is useful for catching horses by the head in a corral. The backhand forefooting catch is the vaquero mangana.

Watch the video below to see a "Hoolihan Catch"..........

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The Circus- Equestrian Entertainment in the Old West

The Circus- we all have been to one, kids love them, they are an iconic part of our culture. As in modern times, Circuses were an important part of the old west culture in the 1800s.

Cowboys coming from the dusty cow trails, frontier men after a long work week and miners who were looking to forget there long hard day in the mine came to town looking for excitement and entertainment.

Circuses provided much needed entertainment for all. The had any manner of acts, including wild animal menageries, clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists, tightrope walkers, brass bands, performing elephants and equestrians who could stand on horseback as they galloped around a center ring.
The circuses date back to Mexican times when shows based on European models came up from the South into California and the southwest around the middle of the 19th century. Circus troupes from the East began to reach settlements in the more accessible regions of Kansas and Nebraska. They traveled in horse drawn wagons over atrocious roads.

By 1880s when railroads had eased the difficulties of transportation, the circus came into its own as the greatest show in the West.

One of those shows was the John Rowe & Co. Pioneer Circus. Here is an excerpt from an article written about the show-


(From the book-“Men of the West-Life on the American Frontier” by Cathy Luchetti)

“ by far the most extensive and elegant organized equestrienne establishment that ever appeared in CA…Traveling through the state at an expense of fifteen thousand dollars a month as an added incentive, the seats are carpeted, and attentive and gentlemanly ushers to wait on ladies and family."


The John Rowe & Co. Pioneer Circus was based in San Francisco, Ca and traveled extensively throughout California. As mentioned before, one of the circus acts was the equestrians who could do acrobatics on horseback.

Below is a glimpse into a typical equestrian performance at the Pioneer Circus.


The main acts of the Pioneer Circus were the equestrian events. At show time the audience was treated to all the spectacle and finery the troupe could provide. One of these spectacles was Miss Mary Ann Whittaker, the first female equestrian artist in America. She was ranked among the best in ballet and pantomime. She would ride out into the sawdust-covered ring standing on her milk white horse in pink tights and ruffles with stars and spangles. Then to the amazement of the crowd as she neared a ribbon held in her path 12 feet high by two colorful clowns, she would leap up off the horse and over the ribbon and then land gracefully onto the horses back all while it was speeding around the circus ring. The applause was thunderous and it continued through the evening. Other riders rode in pyramids on two horses with three riders stacked neatly on top of one another while still others did forward and backward flips through rings of fire.

For these amazing acts to work the horses and riders went through hours of rigorous training some of which is not what you would expect. While the horses went through their paces the grooms would carelessly kick cans about the ring, fire guns, and even tie five-gallon cans to the horse's tail! This was all done in training to teach the horse not to sway from its paces for anyone but its trainer. Timing was everything in the ring. An acrobatic rider doing a back somersault would not like it much if he came down from his leap only to find the horse spooked by a child with a firecracker and not be in his appointed spot.

The Circuses not only used their horses for entertainment, but for hauling all the equipment, animals, and performers in wagons. The travel was hard and taxing on all. Between the roads, or lack of, and the weather it made getting from one town to the next very eventful.

Usually the circus would only be able to cover two or three miles in an hour. Many of the stops were 10 to 15 miles apart and a rider would go ahead and mark the forks in the road with a rail so the caravan would go the right way.

Perhaps the worst occurrence would be after getting little or no sleep,

fighting their way through a drenching rainstorm, pulling out and repairing wagons, and then hearing the word "lost." This of course meant retracing steps and going through all the problems again.

Rowe's Pioneer Circus played the mountain camps and towns until August when due to expenses they were forced to return to San Francisco. Before leaving they had played Yankee Jim, Iowa Hill, Illinois Town, Dutch Flats, Red Dog, Grass Valley, Rough and Ready, Nevada, Orleans Flat, Oroville, Horsetown, Marysville, Monk Hill, Railroad Flat, West Point, Chinese cap and Columbia.

I can just imagine the excitement of the circus coming to these prairie towns and watching the thrilling acts of the equestrian acrobatics.

During these acts I am sure you would see such leather horse tack as the Martingale breast collars, headstalls, and lariat ropes. And of course, I am sure there saddles and horse tack were adorned with silver.

Not unlike the equestrian performers of the old west circuses, many riders today adorn there saddles and leather horse tack with "bling" and silver. Riders today, also like the look of the old west cowboy horse tack, such as the Cowboy Harness Leather Headstall, Old West Bridle, or the Western Roper Breast Collar.

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving
the Western Horseman the safest most durable Quality
American made leather horse tack.......

Buckaroo John Brand

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