Now you
have the noose in the air you do not cease making it circle around your
head until you let it go. When the noose has been let out to the right
size the next trouble is to keep it open and to avoid entangling it in
the brush or other surrounding obstructions. You keep it open, as I
said, by holding the noose from quarter to half its length from the
knot, and by a peculiar twist of the wrist that is only attainable by
practice. To keep it clear of the brush is often a more difficult job,
for the cowboy is not always in a clear place when he wants to throw
his rope. Then it is that his judgment comes into play and determines
whether his cast is a lost one or not. I have seen vaqueros swing a
lasso swiftly almost in the midst of a thicket, and keep it clear
without losing speed, and then let it drive straight as an arrow
between two close trees and rope an object that could not pass where
the noose had gone. Such skill, to be sure, comes only after long
practice.
"Well, now we have got the noose circling about the vaquero's head, and
the next thing is to let it fly. There is not much to describe about
this part of throwing a riata, important though it may be. It is only
incessant practice that will enable a man to make a certain cast. The
main thing is to swing the rope just long enough--neither so long as to
give it a side-wise motion when you throw it, nor short enough to
prevent its getting all the force you require.
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