So I’ve always practiced with a 40" ranch rope (don’t know the brand it’s ancient) and I wanna hear suggestions on what lay to get a heel rope in. The ranch rope is ofc a heavy lay and maintain the loop is God awful. It’ll hold a trap nicely but it’s jus too damn stiff. The rope I’m lookin at (top hand chief) has the M or HM option, not a MH. any suggestions?
Might be a good question to ask on the Western Horseman site. I am big on Western skills but have no clues on rope details to help you. Those details are best answered by roping folks you will find more of, at Western Horseman.
Welcome to the Forums!
Perhaps we have some ropers on here who have been hiding their skills from us! Ha ha I just do not recall any roping questions before. We are really good with questions on care and strange things that happen in horsekeeping.
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SO likes a MS Spydr as his main rope.
He’ll also reach for his MS Powerline pretty often.
He also has a S NXT4 but he thinks it’s too soft, but I don’t have the power behind my swing like he does, so I don’t mind its softness and it doesn’t twist on me like it does on him.
If you’re having trouble keeping an open loop, a good cheater rope is a M NV4. It’s pretty stiff compared to the others mentioned, but a lot of guys will jackpot with them because they call them “forever catchers”, since the loop always stays open. However, you can run into the same problem you’re having.
If you think your current rope is too stiff, I’d stray away from the MH.
I’d probably grab a M Powerline to try over the Top Hand, and then you can always go up to a MH if you think it’s too soft or down.
Most professionals, including our futurity horses trainer, that swing ropes on a daily with do a M or MH (HM depending on brand). However, I think it’s totally personal and for some reason SO likes his a little softer than most.
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Agree with Belmont --too stiff —I only played at roping, but my ma was a real cowboy (cow girl) in WYO in 1930s —she knew her ropes. For fun she used to rope us kids and our friends --we’d beg her to do it --but those ropes could be really stiff and leave a pretty good burn. She had 3-4 different kinds, including a rope for tricks --ma could also roll a cigarette and light it on a cantering horse --another skill us kids would beg her to show us —sadly, she died of lung issues (COPD) --never could give up smoking --still she was 91 . . .
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Wow, some real cowgirls on here and I never guessed! @Foxglove So very cool to have a working cowgirl as your Mom. I would have killed for that as a kid! My Grampa “rolled his own” as well, it was so fascinating to us little kids. He wasn’t even on a horse! I loved him because he listened to me talking about horses and bought me Western Horseman magazines to read.
@Belmont Going to ropings with my husband would be fun, but he is a carriage driver now, not western anymore. I have tried roping things but do not have a good enough eye, now own the wrong kind of horses! Way too leggy for jumping down. Ha ha
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