Gentler roping

Re: “Deaths are rare,” Letter, July 15.

Stan Johnston states that roping calves at branding time is a routine activity at working ranches. This is a fact; however, these ropings are not done at the speeds one sees at the Stampede, where it is a timed event and the horse gallops, and then comes to a sudden stop, causing the jerking motion to the roped calf’s neck.

At the ranches where I worked, roping was done at a walk or maybe a trot, so as to avoid injury. Ranchers have a lot invested in their cattle, and they do not stir up the cattle unnecessarily.