13 
AMERICAN AG-RICUr/TURIST- 
[jANtJARY, 
A MEXICAN CATTLE D 
The Use of the Lasso. 
[COPYRIGHT SECURED.] 
RIVE R. — FROM A SKETCH BY Mr. Jump. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
There is but little in the customs of the Mexi- 
cans worthy of imitation, yet there are a few- 
things in which they excel, and one of them is 
the use of the lasso. One who sees the ease with 
which a Mexican can capture a half wild horse 
or mule, and remembers the time he has spent 
in endeavoring to catch a gentle but frisky horse 
in a pasture, wonders why throwing the lasso 
has never become a Yankee accomplishment. 
The best lasso, also called "lariat" and "riate," 
is made of braided rawhide, and so prepared 
(probably oiled) as to be perfectly flexible. This 
is thirty feet or more long, and has an eye in 
one end, through which the other end is run, to 
form a slip-noose, which, spread out, would form 
a circle six or eight feet in diameter. To throw 
the lasso, the noose is grasped in the right hand 
about a foot from the eye, both parts, the run- 
ning portion and that to which the eye is at- 
tached, being held ; the rest is coiled loosely and 
held by the left hand. The noose is then 
whirled round the head, slowly at first but with 
increasing rapidity ; by a revolving motion of 
the wrist, which cannot well be described, the 
noose is always kept in the same plane and 
spreads out in an elliptical form. "When suffi- 
cient velocity has been attained and at just the 
right instant the noose is let go and at the same 
time the coil in the left hand is allowed to play 
out. One skilled in the use of the lasso will take 
such unerring aim as to throw the noose over 
the head of an animal, whether it be running or 
standing still. A novice in Ids first attempts 
will hit anything but the object he aims at. 
Nothing but practice will teach its use. The 
Mexicans begin when children, and it is very 
common to see the " mucJiachitos " with a lasso 
made of a bit of cord, essaying their skill on 
pigs and chickens. Not only is lassoing done 
on foot but on horseback. One end of the lasso 
is attached to the horn, which Mexican saddles 
always have in front. The saddles are very 
strong, and are furnished with wide and strong 
girths, for when a wild animal is caught there 
is often a trial of strength between the captor 
and the captured. The Mexican horses, used to 
the business, brace themselves as soon as the 
lasso is thrown, to resist a pull, and the horse- 
man takes an additional precaution against 
being unseated by clasping his enormous spurs 
under the horse's hell}'. Nowhere is the lasso 
used with more skill than among the Califor- 
nian Mexicans. The writer has seen two, 
father and son, chase a wild bullock; one would 
catch the animal by the horns and the other by 
one of the hind legs and bring it to the ground 
quicker than it takes to describe it, and this 
while all were on the full gallop. The above 
scene, furnished by a Californian artist, repre- 
sents a Mexican driving cattle. It not only 
shows the use of the lasso in bringing refractory 
animals to terms, but gives a good idea of the 
picturesque costume of a Mexican " vaquero" or 
cattle driver, and the equipments of his horse. 
The Mexican bit, which cannot be distinct!}' 
shown on so small a scale, is so constructed 
that the rider has the most restive animal quite 
under control. The spurs, which may seem 
like an exaggeration in the picture, were drawn 
from a well-worn pair in the possession of the 
writer. So far from being cruel, as most per- 
sons suppose, they are so blunt as to be incapa- 
ble of inflicting a wound, and they can at most 
serve to give a blow. The reason for making 
them so large is to aid the rider in holding his 
seat, as alluded to above. The Mexican saddles 
are remarkable for their strength and the easy 
seat they give the rider; they are usually cov- 
ered with embossed and embroidered leather 
