Calf roping at the Fort Worth Rodeo

[Doug Kerr]

Yesterday Carla and I made our annual visit to the Rodeo at the Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show. We go with a group of people we got hooked up with when Carla met one of the wives in her Red Hat Society chapter.

This year, we shot totally "available light" using the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS on our Canon EOS 40D, mostly at ISO 1600.

This shot shows the day's winning "tie-down" calf roping, won by Blair Burk of Durant, Oklahoma, with a time of 9.3 sec.

Douglas A. Kerr: Done!​

Canon EOS 40D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 175 mm.
ISO 1600, f/2.8. 1/250 sec. 77% x 87% crop,
presented here at 30% of original resolution.​

Here the cowboy signals that his tie (made with a "pigging string") is complete, calling for the clock to stop. If the calf remains secured for six seconds, the time since the calf crossed the "starting line" counts as his score (assuming that no penalty is incurred - more about that in a subsequent message). If the calf gets loose before that, it is no deal.

We see the cowboy's horse keeping the rope "dallied" with just enough tension for this phase of the task. (Actually, "dally" specifically refers to the cowboy's securing the rope to the saddle horn, but it is often extended to the overall situation.)

 

[StuartRae]

Hi Doug,

Full marks for the 40D at ISO 1600. I wonder if the image would be improved by cloning in some sand top right?

Of greater interest is the term "dally". Over here it's become to mean "to waste time", or "to toy with the affections of (a young lady)".

I guess that when the word crossed the pond it was still a corruption of "delay".

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Stuart,

Hi Doug,

Full marks for the 40D at ISO 1600. I wonder if the image would be improved by cloning in some sand top right?

Yes, Absolutely. I just didn't have the energy today!

Of greater interest is the term "dally". Over here it's become to mean "to waste time", or "to toy with the affections of (a young lady)".

I guess that when the word crossed the pond it was still a corruption of "delay".

Yes, and I'm not sure of the etymological background of its use here. There might be some relationship. I'll look into that.

We most often (and that's not very often) hear it in the sense you mention in the form of "dalliance", generally meaning an amorous affair (perhaps not too substantial).

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Stuart,

Triangulating the outlooks of several "authorities", it seems like "dally" here was a corruption of the Spanish dar la vuelta (literal, "to give the (a) return").

It turns out (I did not know this) that the term formally does not refer to tying the rope around the saddle horn, but rather to take a couple of turns of the rope around it, so that the friction multiplies the tension afforded by the cowboy's hand. (The formula is in fact well known to mechanical engineers - even some electrical engineers, comme moi.) Thus the cowboy can let the rope out as required without having to take the full tension to his hand.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[StuartRae]

Thanks Doug, that's interesting. I guess the Spanish derivation makes sense considering the proximity of Mexico and Texas.

Regards,

Stuart

 

[Doug Kerr]

Team calf roping - Part 1

One of my favorite rodeo events is team calf roping. There, a calf is released from a chute (just as for tiedown calf roping) but now two mounted cowboys take chase. One (the "header") lassos the calf around then neck. Then the second (the "heeler") lassos both rear feet. (I can't even imagine how that is ever able to happen!)

This sport derives from the real ranching job of immobilizing a calf, often for the purpose of medical examination or attention.

As with tiedown calf roping, the cowboy is not permitted to cross the line passing through the chute gate until the calf is approximately 25' clear of the chute gate. This is enforced by a very clever system. No, don't think photocell beams and sonar. It is much more agricultural than that (as befits the context).

Here we see the chute and the adjacent pens ("boxes") in which the cowboy(s) wait to go. This shot is just after the chute gate has been opened and the calf has taken off for parts unknown. (The chute hands shout "encouragement" to the calf - and it ain't "Git along, little dogie".)

Douglas A. Kerr: Calf Away!​

We can also see the mechanism for enforcing the "head start" for the calf. We see a rope across the exit of the near-side cowboy's box (it has an orange flag on it). This is the infamous "barrier". (In the team event, only the header has one).

At its far end, it is joined to a short yellow rope (the two being tied together by a string loop passing through loops on each rope). The far end of the yellow piece goes to a metal tab held in a bracket on the chute rail by a metal pin.

At the near end, the barrier rope goes around a pulley to a piece of elastic cord, which keeps it under tension.

A "jerk rope" is fastened around the calf's neck (fastened in some way that can easily break loose - I'm not sure exactly how that works), goes around a pulley block back at the chute, and goes to the pin that holds the chute end of the barrier rope. It then continues a little way further and is tied to a fixed anchor on the chute rail. (We can see the end of the jerk line around the calf's neck - it is softened there with a leather wrapping. (For some reason, we cannot see the jerk line between the calf and the chute area - probably just blocked by one of the rails; at this point it is fairly near the ground.)

After the chute hand releases the chute gate and the calf runs out, when all the slack comes out of the jerk line, it pulls out the pin, and the barrier rope is now loose at the chute end. The elastic cord makes is jump rapidly out of the way (toward us, in the case of the near side box).

The jerk line can't move very far (since it's "tail" is tied to the rail) and so it pulls free from the calf's neck.

The cowboy does not wait for the barrier to clear before he starts his run. He starts at what he judges as an appropriate time after the chute gate opens. The hope is that he will arrive at the barrier line at full speed just after the barrier snaps clear. We can see that the "header" cowboy (on the near side) is already under way with his lariat wound up. The "heeler" (on the far side, on the Palomino) is a little farther along - he ain't got no stinkin' barrier.

If the cowboy (header in this case) gets to the barrier too soon, the horse will stretch the barrier until the travel of the elastic is stopped (by the "knot" joining it to the barrier reaching the pulley) and the string connection will part (said to be "breaking the barrier" - literally). The barrier judge notes this. The result will be that an additional 10 sec is added to the cowboy's time as a penalty.

The time starts when the barrier is released. The timing judge notes this by seeing the orange flag fly away.

Here we see the team out of their boxes, in hot pursuit:

Douglas A. Kerr: Git that sucker!​

We'll finish this sequence in Part 2 of this message.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Team calf roping - Part 2

Here we see the first part of the "catch":

Douglas A. Kerr: That's the head!​

and right after, the job is done:

Douglas A. Kerr: And the heels.​

The teamwork between the cowboys and their mounts is just amazing.

Weatherford, Texas, where we live, is a center of raising horses for demanding ranch work.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Doug,

Truly fascinating! Thanks for the background info and the lovely pictures.

Cheers,