Learning to Rope – Pincher Creek Style

Janet Barkwith, Contributor, Pincher Creek Voice

Janet Barkwith
C. Davis photo

When I was five years old, I was already riding the range, throwing loops, and generally cowboyin' around. Trouble was, my horse was the arm of my mother's couch, and my rope was an old washing line. There wasn't too much call for cowboys in southern England, with her little green patchwork fields, where beef farmers called the cows when they were required! Then real life intervened: school, job, marriage, kids – you know the kind of thing. But I did manage to get myself a horse (or a few) and took up fox hunting, riding with the Duke of Beaufort's Hounds in Gloucestershire for almost twenty years.

Hunting was a huge part of our lives in Gloucestershire, but all good things come to an end, and here in SW Alberta we feel we have gained every bit as much as we have lost, so no regrets!


The tremendous ranching tradition here has rekindled my interest in all things Western, and we are lucky enough to have some extremely generous neighbours who allow us to ride their land when we're not riding our own or the mountain trails. We also have some very patient neighbours who have kindly allowed us to believe that we're helping them with their cattle moving work, which we enjoy enormously.

I guess my life has come full circle: from a cowboy at the tender age of five to a cowboy at the age of – well, that's none of your business!

So when I heard that Janet Watmough, under the auspices of the Pincher Creek Ag Society, had arranged a course for complete beginners to learn to rope, I had to give it a go. Over the years we've watched many Ranch Roping contests, and have been around on the open range when our friends have roped and doctored calves, cows and the odd bull. We've also happily participated in brandings, so we've both seen a fair amount of roping. I even have my own 50ft rope, which I have enjoyed fiddling about with under the occasional watchful eye of a friend. My little horse is quite happy to take the rope waffling about around him, and he has once or twice had the chance to pull things about on the end of a rope – though nothing as wriggly as a calf!

Janet Barkwith getting ready to cowgirl-up
T. Lucas photo

I arrived at the Horseshoe Pavilion clutching my rope on the evening of Friday 13th (Friday 13th? What kind of a day is that to start a new venture, I wondered?) not really knowing what to expect, except that no horses were required for the first few sessions. I was frankly pretty dismayed to find that all the participants seemed to be much (much!) younger than me, and they all seemed already to be pretty handy with a rope. I was extremely relieved when a friend of ours arrived to join in: at last - someone else over the age of twelve!!

The numbers of folks who had actually turned out for this first evening went way beyond expectations, and there weren't really enough instructors, and perhaps a few more roping dummies were needed too, but what a great problem to have! Next time people will be split into two groups: one for team & breakaway roping, and one for ranch roping, my own interest. You might think that throwing a loop was throwing a loop, but not a bit of it: ranch and team roping evidently need different techniques.

People who had come along to spectate were roped in (pun intended!) to help with instruction, and after a slightly rocky start, the evening progressed to a very satisfactory conclusion. From fumbling about trying to get my “knitting” sorted, I went on – I think! - to throw a few reasonable loops: at least I didn't hang anyone, nor trip myself up, and I did manage to drop a loop over a bucket or two. Awkward critters to catch, those pesky buckets!

Jesse Newman teaching roping fundamentals to Ben Schwartz
and Janet Barkwith
T. Lucas photo

So I shall be back next time, eager to learn more. Kudos to Janet Watmough who organised the whole deal – she was working so hard at organising the evening, she never got to handle a rope, so next time Janet, let someone else worry about it, and get your hands on a rope, girl!