Roping and Riding: Fast Horses and Short Ropes

Barnes, 1975. Hardcover. Very Good. 10x6x1. 1975 hardcover with dust jacket. UNREAD COPY with bright, unmarked, well-bound pages. Green cloth remains bright and clean. Jacket is shelf-rubbed and shows edge wear, including minor edge chipping. This is NOT an ex-library book and not a remainder. A very good, sturdy copy overall. 232 pages, including index. Selected writings on the rodeo by Willard Porter. "Willard H. Porter has been trailing after pro ropers for a quarter of a century. When he found out that he was not destined to become the fastest human being with a lariat, he decided to write about roping contests rather than compete in them. ROPING AND RIDING: FAST HORSES AND SHORT ROPES embraces these twenty-five years of catch-loop reporting. The book takes the reader back into roping history, discusses the careers of such roping greats as Jake McClure, Troy Fort, Wild Horse (Bob) Crosby, Toots Mansfield, Buck and Jess Goodspeed, Zeano Farris, Royce Sewalt, John Rhodes, Carl Arnold, John D. Holleyman, Buckshot Sorrells, and many others. Some of the current 'roughs' are Don Smith, International Rodeo Association calf-roping champion; Ernie Taylor, Rodeo Cowboys Association calf-roping champion; and many more. Their careers are mentioned, plus the physical characteristics and metal attitudes that make them all a special breed of men. The reader gets an insight into the professional cowboy athlete and gets to know Lee Farris, the Camarillo brothers, Tooter Waites, Barry Burk, Bob Ragsdale (association president), Bucky Bradford, Roy Thompson, Tom Ferguson, Jim Rodriguez Jr., Charley Lynn, John Miller, and still others. This book is presented for both beginners and professionals. In the pages, readers will learn how ropes are made, how bovine critters are tied, how to become a roper, how top horses keep that way, how to promote a roping, and how to keep from injuring oneself in the roping game. Not since 13 FLAT, Porter's first book on rodeo roping, has this aspect of the professional cowboy's sport been so thoroughly examined.