ranch roping

In April of 2013, a Montana State University newspaper ran an article addressing an unusual situation, contested by some, in which a student had applied for a teaching job at the university.  Reata Brannaman, if hired, would be teaching her peers in a year-long, for-credit class while still attending the university as a full-time undergraduate...

The Brannaman Pro-AM is a unique vaquero-style roping set for October 19-22, at the Santa Ynez Valley Equestrian Center in Santa Ynez, California, conceived by horsemanship clinician, Buck Brannaman and his daughter Reata. Billed as the Richest Ranch Roping in the World, contestants are required to dress in traditional cowboy attire and use traditional cowboy...

The four riders burst across the arena, lariats flying, in pursuit of the lone steer. One deftly “heads” the steer, looping a noose around the critter’s horns, and another then “heels” the hapless beast, shooting a lightning-fast loop under one of the animal’s hind feet, then drawing it taut. With the steer caught betwixt and...