lasso
The lasso is a sling of rope used to capture animals, commonly used by shepherds. It is a long, more or less stiff leather or hemp rope with a self-tightening noose at the end, which is thrown over the neck, the horns or over one or more legs of the animals. The animal is either fixed or thrown to the ground; When throwing from a horse, the lasso is usually attached to the saddle horn in North America ( roping saddle ) or to a ring on the back of the saddle ( recado ) in South America.
The eyelet at the end of the rope, which enables a throwing loop to be formed and tightened, can be knotted or braided, but it can also be made of woven leather, metal, horn or plastic. In the American-speaking world, the term honda is used for this ; the loop itself is called the loop , the long end of the rope is called the spoke .
designation
The German word lasso has been used since the 18th century when it became known through travel reports. The English word lasso was simply adopted, which in turn goes back to the Spanish lazo (string, loop).
In the USA , in addition to the rarely used word lasso, there is also the term lariat , a corruption of the Spanish la riata (the noose, the rope). Most of the time, a throwing rope is simply called a rope .
history
For its purpose as cattle or horse fishing gear - mostly for riders - the lasso was first used in Europe and Asia. The Spaniards probably brought it to America . Today it is mainly used by cattle herders in the USA and South America , especially when no other fishing facilities are available or cannot be set up, such as B. a catch alley or a gate. The lasso is a common prop in western films . It was also partially used as a weapon in the past (see gladiators ).
Central Asia
The nomadic peoples of Central Asia use a similar device to capture their grazing animals. A rope loop is attached to the end of a long wooden pole. The rider swings the noose over the head of the pursued animal - even at full gallop - and then pulls the bar or turns it several times to close the noose. In Mongolia , this tool is called Uurga ( Уурга ) and is still considered a national symbol of nomadism today.
For the reindeer- breeding Sami in the north of Norway , Sweden and the Russian Kola Peninsula ( Sápmi ), the lasso ( called suopunki in the language of the Sami ) is still an indispensable tool for catching and restraining individual animals when the herds are raised. A plastic rope specially made for this purpose with a plastic sheath is used, which is available for different outside temperatures (extreme cold can damage a simple rope or make it very unwieldy). The Honda is shaped like an "8", was traditionally carved from reindeer bones and is now mostly made of plastic.
Manufacturing
The lasso of cowboys and vaqueros is made of rawhide from cattle, horses or buffalo (bison). To do this, the animal skins are first freed of leftover meat (by placing them next to an anthill, for example) and then cut into long, five-millimeter-wide strips in a spiral from the outside in. These strips are tied to a peg and pulled through and milled between two round timbers. This will soften the leather and remove the hair. The strips are moistened with cold water and woven from four to eight strips into ropes. Raw liver or brain matter is rubbed into the raw leather for maintenance so that it remains supple and durable. At one end an eye is spliced or a lasso knot is tied or a ring or the like is tied in. The traditional rope braider is called Reatero ; however, utility lasso today are mass-produced items, priced in the range of approximately US $ 20 to US $ 100, while leather reatas can range in the range of US $ 200 to US $ 400.
A lasso is about three to 20 meters long and about eight to twelve millimeters thick. Depending on the material used, the tear strength is up to 1000 kg. Originally made from Nandu tendons or sturdy plant fibers ( sisal ), later mainly leather and, since the end of the 19th century, hemp were used as materials. For twisted and more or less stiff ropes, synthetic fiber and waxed cotton ropes are now also common. Hemp ropes are much cheaper than leather ropes, but they wear out faster. Today poly-cotton or poly ropes are common, the traditional leather ropes have become quite expensive and rare. Different degrees of stiffness, thicknesses and lengths are used for different purposes (including lasso tricks; catching calves; catching or taming horses, etc.), even for the different species of animals (calf; bull; horse ...). Catching horses requires z. B. rather long and soft lassos; Tricks on short and harder ropes etc.
Throwing technique
The lasso is attached to the saddle a little below the saddle horn or held in the free hand and quickly wound around the saddle horn after the throw ( dally roping ). For throwing, the noose is opened to a diameter of about 1.5 m (an arm span) or more. Especially in South America, very large loops up to four meters are common. With the throwing hand - about a third of the loop circumference next to the Honda - the loop and the rope are grasped at the same time so that the loop remains open when swinging. The other hand, slightly open, holds the rope rings. The lasso loop is swung from the wrist several times in a circle over the head and then thrown. Swinging too long tires the limb. The noose is thrown over the animal's neck, horns or front feet ( forefooting ) or hind legs ( heeling ), then the end of the lasso is wrapped around the saddle horn and the captured animal is torn down with a turn or a hard stop by the horse's own horse. The fast winding of the free end around the saddle horn and the sensitive "braking" of the rope by letting it slide around the horn is called dally roping , which was derived from the Spanish term dar la vuelta - making the turn. The cowboys spent much of their free time doing throwing exercises. In practice, about 30 different throwing techniques are described, depending on the location of the thrower to that of the animal and whether the noose is thrown over the front or rear feet, over the head or over the horns. Only a few that have their own names are used more often in everyday work (e.g. the Houlihan litter).
As sport and art
In rodeo there are the disciplines break away calf roping ( calf catching ) and wild horse race (catching wild horses). Special roping competitions are held in the USA. World champion is Terry McCutcheon. Lasso acrobats perform in the circus and at horse shows; the famous horse whisperer Buck Brannaman began his career as a young lasso artist. In Europe, too, lassoing is practiced as a pastime and supplement to western riding, which has led to its own clubs and even championships. Ranch roping is popular as a practical application of this skill.
Trick lasso
The purpose of the trick lasso is to perform acrobatic feats. By skillful rotating the acrobat holding the loop ( Loop ) due to centrifugal force open, a distinction being made between horizontal and vertical loops. A well-known vertical loop is Texas Skip : Here the lasso acrobat appears to jump through the loop; in reality he is pulling the loop from side to side and jumping up at the right moment to let the rope pass under his feet. A very well known trick lasso acrobat was Will Rogers .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ juggling.org (English). Retrieved April 2, 2014 .
- ↑ Roping regulations ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 51 kB).
