![Lasso1web](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Lasso1web.jpg)
A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from
Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...
designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish and Mexican cowboy, then adopted by the
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s of the United States. The word is also a verb; ''to lasso'' is to throw the loop of rope around something.
Overview
A lasso is made from stiff rope so that the
noose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot.
The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...
stays open when the lasso is thrown. It also allows the cowboy to easily open up the noose from
horseback to release the cattle because the rope is stiff enough to be pushed a little. A high quality lasso is weighted for better handling. The lariat has a small reinforced loop at one end, called a ''honda'' or ''hondo'', through which the rope passes to form a loop. The ''honda'' can be formed by a
honda knot (or another
loop knot
This page explains commonly used terms related to knots.
B
Bend
A bend is a knot used to join two lengths of rope.
Bight
A bight has two meanings in knotting. It can mean either any central part of a rope (between the standing end an ...
), an
eye splice
The eye splice is a method of creating a permanent loop (an " eye") in the end of a rope by means of rope splicing.
The Flemish eye is a type of circular loop at the end of a thread. There are several techniques of creating the eye with its k ...
, a
seizing
Seizings are a class of stopping knots used to semi-permanently bind together two ropes, two parts of the same rope, or rope and another object. Akin to lashings, they use string or small-stuff to produce friction and leverage to immobilize la ...
,
rawhide, or a metal ring. The other end is sometimes tied simply in a small, tight, overhand knot to prevent fraying. Most modern lariats are made of stiff nylon or polyester rope, usually about 5/16 or 3/8 in (8 or 9.5 mm) diameter and in lengths of 28, 30, or 35 ft (8.5, 9 or 11 m) for arena-style roping and anywhere from for Californio-style roping. The reata is made of braided (or less commonly, twisted) rawhide and is made in lengths from to over . Mexican maguey (agave) and cotton ropes are also used in the longer lengths.
The lasso is used today in
rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
s as part of the competitive events, such as
calf roping and
team roping
Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer (typically a Corriente) and two mounted riders. The first roper is referred to as the "header", the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around ...
. It is also still used on working
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
es to capture
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
or other
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
when necessary. After catching the cattle, the lasso can be tied or wrapped (dallied) around the ''horn'', a typical feature on the front of a
western saddle. With the lasso around the horn, the cowboy can use his
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
as the equivalent of a
tow truck
A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged ...
with a
winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...
.
Part of the
historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
of both the
vaquero
The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...
s of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and the
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s of the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
is a related skill now called "
trick roping", a performance of assorted lasso spinning tricks. The Hollywood film star
Will Rogers
William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
was a well-known practitioner of trick roping and the
natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship is a collective term for a variety of horse training techniques which have seen rapid growth in popularity since the 1980s. The techniques vary in their precise tenets but generally share principles of "a kinder and gentler ...
practitioner
Buck Brannaman
Dan M. "Buck" Brannaman (born January 29, 1962) is an American horse trainer and a leading clinician with a philosophy of handling horses based on classical concepts from the vaquero tradition; working with the horse's nature, using an understandi ...
also got his start as a trick roper when he was a child.
Etymology
The word ''lasso'' seems to have begun to be used as an English word in the early nineteenth century. It may have originated from the
Castilian word ''lazo'', which is first attested in the thirteenth century in the sense 'noose, snare', and derives in turn from classical
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''laqueus'' ('noose, snare, trap, bond, tie').
The rope or lasso used to restrain cattle is also called a ''Reata'' or ''La Reata'' in Mexico, which was Anglicized to “Lariat” or “Riata” in the United States. In Spain, the word ''reata'' has four definitions: 1) the rope that ties one horse or mule to another to make them go in a straight line; 2) the leading mule of three that draw a cart; 3) a rope used for binding masts and spars (woolding); and 4) figuratively, it means the submission to the opinion of others.
Other names are used in various countries where the Lasso is used. In Argentina, Chile and Venezuela is simply called “El Lazo” or “El Lazo Criollo”. In Colombia the equipment is called “Rejo”, in Costa Rica “Coyunda”, in Ecuador “Beta”, and Peru “Guasca”. Meanwhile in Colombia, the term Reata or Riata means: hardened, firm, rigid, severe; it also refers to a belt for pants.
History
![Rustam lassoes the Khaqan of chin from the back of his elephant (6124528639)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Rustam_lassoes_the_Khaqan_of_chin_from_the_back_of_his_elephant_%286124528639%29.jpg)
Lassos are not only part of North American culture;
relief carving
In wood carving relief carving is a type in which figures or patterns are carved in a flat panel of wood; the same term is also used for carving in stone, ivory carving and various other materials. The figures project only slightly from the back ...
s at the
ancient Egyptian temple of
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
Seti I
Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II.
The ...
at
Abydos, built c.1280 BC, show the pharaoh holding a lasso, then holding onto a bull roped around the horns.
Huns are recorded as using lassos in battle to ensnare opponents prepared to defend themselves in hand-to-hand combat around AD 370. They were also used by
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different and are still used by the
Sami people
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...
and
Finns
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
in reindeer herding. In
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, a variant of the lasso called an ''uurga'' () is used, consisting of a rope loop at the end of a long pole.
Lassoes are also mentioned in the Greek ''
Histories'' of
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
; seventh book. Polymnia 7.85 records: "The wandering tribe known by the name of
Sagartians
The Sagartians ( la, Sagartii; grc, Σαγάρτιοι ''Sagártioi''; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎿𐎥𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 ''Asagartiya'' "Sagartian"; Elamite: 𒀾𒐼𒋼𒀀𒋾𒅀 ''Aš-šá-kar-ti-ia'', Babylonian: 𒆳𒊓𒂵𒅈𒋫𒀀𒀀 KUR ...
– a people
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
in language, and in dress half
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, half
Pactyan, who furnished the army as many as eight thousand horse. It is not the wont of this people to carry arms, either of bronze or steel, except only a dirk; but they use lassoes made of thongs plaited together, and trust to these whenever they go to the wars. Now the manner in which they fight is the following: when they meet their enemy, straightway they discharge their lassoes, which end in a noose; then, whatever the noose encircles, be it man or be it horse, they drag towards them; and the foe, entangled in the toils, is forthwith slain. Such is the manner in which this people fight; and now their horsemen were drawn up with the Persians".
Lasso is mentioned by some sources as one of the pieces of equipment of the
Aswaran
The Aswārān (singular aswār), also spelled Asbārān and Savaran, was a cavalry force that formed the backbone of the army of the Sasanian Empire. They were provided by the aristocracy, were heavily armored, and ranged from archers to catap ...
, the cavalry force of the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
.
On the American continent, the method of roping cattle developed in Mexico as a way of managing and controlling individual animals (lassoing). The tool that was used was called a lariat. Furthermore, in order for this tool to be more productive, the Spanish war saddle evolved into the working saddle of the 19th century. Although a simple tool, many decades if not a century had to pass for this system to be perfected in Mexico.
Before the lasso or lariat were successfully implemented in the Mexican style of work, the use of a hocking knife (crescent-shaped blade on a pole that was used to cut the ligaments in a cow's hocks) was used to stop and control the cattle. The hocking knife was similar to the Spanish spear (lanza) that was used to manipulate cattle as well as for combat.
See also
*
Bolas
Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entan ...
*
Hogtie
The hogtie is a method of tying the limbs together, rendering the subject immobile and helpless. Originally, it was applied to pigs (hence the name) and other young four-legged animals.
Details
The hogtie when used on pigs and cattle has ...
*
Lasso tool
The lasso (or "free form selection") is an editing tool available, with minor variations, in most digital image editing software. It is often accessed from the standard main menu (in Photoshop, Paint Tool SAI, and GIMP, as common examples), by c ...
References
External links
''The Lasso: A Rational Guide to Trick Roping''by Carey Bunks
"How to Handle a Rope – Champ Gives Lessons."''Popular Science'', June 1942, pp. 82–87.
''Origem da Modalidade de Laço Campista''by Associação do Laço Campista
{{Rodeo
American frontier
Livestock
Rodeo equipment
Ropes
Roping (rodeo)
Western (genre) staples and terminology