1.
Rodeo
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Rodeo is a competitive sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later Central America, the United States, Canada, South America, Australia and New Zealand. It was based on the skills required of the vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada. Today it is an event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys. American style professional rodeos generally comprise the events, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding. The events are divided into two categories, the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other such as breakaway roping, goat tying. American rodeo, particularly popular today within the Canadian province of Alberta and throughout the western United States, is the state sport of Wyoming, South Dakota. The iconic silhouette image of a Bucking Horse and Rider is a federal, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta has considered making American rodeo the official sport of that province. However, enabling legislation has yet to be passed, associations also exist for Native Americans and other minority groups. Rodeo has provoked opposition from animal rights and animal welfare advocates, the American rodeo industry has made progress in improving the welfare of rodeo animals, with specific requirements for veterinary care and other regulations that protect rodeo animals. However, rodeo is opposed by a number of animal welfare organizations in the United States, some local and state governments in North America have banned or restricted rodeos, certain rodeo events, or types of equipment. Internationally, rodeo is banned in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the American English word rodeo is taken directly from Spanish rodeo, which roughly translates into English as round up. The yearly rodeos for separating the cattle were overseen by the Juez del Campo, the term was also used to refer to exhibitions of skills used in the working rodeo. This evolved from these yearly gatherings where festivities were held and horsemen could demonstrate their equestrian skills and it was this latter usage which was adopted into the cowboy tradition of the United States and Canada. The term rodeo was first used in English in approximately 1834 to refer to a cattle round-up, today the word is used primarily to refer to a public exhibition of cowboy skills, usually in the form of a competitive event. Many rodeo events were based on the tasks required by cattle ranching, the working cowboy developed skills to fit the needs of the terrain and climate of the American west, and there were many regional variations. The skills required to manage cattle and horses back to the Spanish traditions of the vaquero. Early rodeo-like affairs of the 1820s and 1830s were informal events in the western United States and northern Mexico with cowboys, following the American Civil War, rodeo competitions emerged, with the first held in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1872
2.
Calf
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A calf is the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal, the term calf is also used for some other species. Calf is the term used from birth to weaning, when it becomes known as a weaner or weaner calf, the birth of a calf is known as calving. A calf that has lost its mother is an orphan calf, bobby calves are young calves which are to be slaughtered for human consumption. A vealer is a fat calf weighing less than about 330 kg which is at about eight to nine months of age, a young female calf from birth until she has had a calf of her own is called a heifer. In the American Old West, a motherless or small, runty calf was sometimes referred to as a dogie, the term calf is also used for some other species. Calves may be produced by means, or by artificial breeding using artificial insemination or embryo transfer. Calves are born after a gestation of nine months and they usually stand within a few minutes of calving, and suckle within an hour. By a week old the calf is able to follow the mother all the time, some calves are ear tagged soon after birth, especially those that are stud cattle in order to correctly identify their dams, or in areas where tagging is a legal requirement for cattle. A calf must have the very best of everything until it is at least eight months old if it is to reach its maximum potential, typically when the calves are about two months old they are branded, ear marked, castrated and vaccinated. The single suckler system of rearing calves is similar to that occurring naturally in wild cattle and this system is commonly used for rearing beef cattle throughout the world. Cows kept on poor forage produce an amount of milk. A calf left with such a mother all the time can easily drink all the milk, leaving none for human consumption. For dairy production under such circumstances, the access to the cow must be limited, for example by penning the calf. In more intensive farming, cows can easily be bred and fed to produce far more milk than one calf can drink. In the multi-suckler system, several calves are fostered onto one cow in addition to her own, more commonly, calves of dairy cows are fed formula milk from a bottle or bucket from soon after birth. Purebred female calves of cows are reared as replacement dairy cows. Most purebred dairy calves are produced by artificial insemination, by this method each bull can serve very many cows, so only a very few of the purebred dairy male calves are needed to provide bulls for breeding
3.
Equestrianism
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Equestrianism, more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding, refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in sports including, but not limited to, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving. Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows, Horses are used for non-competitive recreational riding such as fox hunting, trail riding or hacking. There is public access to trails in almost every part of the world, many parks, ranches. Horses are also used for therapeutic purposes, both in specialized paraequestrian competition as well as non-competitive riding to improve health and emotional development. Horses are also driven in harness racing, at shows and in other types of exhibition, historical reenactment or ceremony. In some parts of the world, they are used for practical purposes such as farming. Horses continue to be used in service, in traditional ceremonies, police and volunteer mounted patrols. Riding halls enable the training of horse and rider in all weathers as well as indoor competition riding, though there is controversy over the exact date horses were domesticated and when they were first ridden, the best estimate is that horses first were ridden approximately 3500 BC. Indirect evidence suggests that horses were ridden long before they were driven, however, the most unequivocal early archaeological evidence of equines put to working use was of horses being driven. Chariot burials about 2500 BC present the most direct evidence of horses used as working animals. In ancient times chariot warfare was followed by the use of war horses as light, the horse played an important role throughout human history all over the world, both in warfare and in peaceful pursuits such as transportation, trade and agriculture. Horses lived in North America, but died out at the end of the Ice Age, Horses were brought back to North America by European explorers, beginning with the second voyage of Columbus in 1493. Humans appear to have expressed a desire to know which horse were the fastest. Gambling on horse races appears to go hand-in hand with racing and has a history as well. Thoroughbreds have the pre-eminent reputation as a breed, but other breeds also race. Under saddle, Thoroughbred horse racing is the most popular form worldwide, in the UK, it is known as flat racing and is governed by the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom
4.
Horse
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The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, colors, depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses. Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
5.
Lasso
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A lasso, also referred to as a lariat, riata, or reata, is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a tool of the American cowboy. The word is also a verb, to lasso is to throw the loop of rope around something. Although the tool has several names, such terms are rarely employed by those who actually use it, nearly all cowboys simply call it a rope. To most cowboys, the use of other terms — especially lasso — identifies the user as a layman, a lasso is made from stiff rope so that the noose stays open when the lasso is thrown. It also allows the cowboy to easily open up the noose from horseback to release the cattle because the rope is stiff enough to be pushed a little, a high quality lasso is weighted for better handling. The lariat has a small reinforced loop at one end, called a honda or hondo, the honda can be formed by a honda knot, an eye splice, a seizing, rawhide, or a metal ring. The other end is sometimes tied simply in a small, tight, the reata is made of braided rawhide and is made in lengths from 50 ft to over 100 ft. Mexican maguey and cotton ropes are also used in the longer lengths. The lasso is used today in rodeos as part of the events, such as calf roping. It is also used on working ranches to capture cattle or other livestock when necessary. After catching the cattle, the lasso can be tied or wrapped around the horn, with the lasso around the horn, the cowboy can use his horse as the equivalent of a tow truck with a winch. Part of the culture of both the vaqueros of Mexico and the cowboys of the Western United States is a related skill now called trick roping. Will Rogers was a practitioner of trick roping and the natural horsemanship practitioner Buck Brannaman also got his start as a trick roper when he was a child. Huns are recorded as using lassos in battle to ensnare opponents prepared to defend themselves in combat around AD370. They were also used by Tatars and are used by the Sami people. In Mongolia, a variant of the lasso called an uurga is used, lassoes are also mentioned in The Greek History of Herodotus, seventh book. It is not the wont of this people to arms, either of bronze or steel, except only a dirk, but they use lassoes made of thongs plaited together. Such is the manner in which this people fight, and now their horsemen were drawn up with the Persians, bolas Hogtie The Lasso, A Rational Guide to Trick Roping by Carey Bunks Footage of multiple Lasso World Champions How to Handle a Rope - Champ Gives Lessons
6.
Animal welfare
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Animal welfare is the well-being of animals. The standards of animal welfare vary considerably between different contexts. These standards are under constant review and are debated, created and revised by animal groups, legislators. These concerns can include how animals are slaughtered for food, how they are used in research, how they are kept. Animal welfare was a concern of some ancient civilizations but began to take a place in Western public policy in 19th-century Great Britain. In the 21st century, it is a significant focus of interest in science, ethics, there are two forms of criticism of the concept of animal welfare, coming from diametrically opposite positions. One view, dating back centuries, asserts that animals are not consciously aware, however, some still maintain that consciousness is a philosophical question that may never be scientifically resolved. The other view is based on the animal rights position that animals should not be regarded as property, accordingly, some animal rights proponents argue that the perception of better animal welfare facilitates continued and increased exploitation of animals. Some authorities therefore treat animal welfare and animal rights as two opposing positions, others see the increasing concern for animal welfare as incremental steps towards animal rights. There are many different approaches to describing and defining animal welfare, providing good animal welfare is sometimes defined by a list of positive conditions which should be provided to the animal. This approach is taken by the Five Freedoms and the three principles of Professor John Webster, in the past, many have seen farm animal welfare chiefly in terms of whether the animal is producing well. g. Others in the field, such as Professor Ian Duncan and Professor Marian Dawkins and this approach indicates the belief that animals should be considered as sentient beings. In any assessment of welfare, it is these feelings that should be assessed, Dawkins wrote, Let us not mince words, Animal welfare involves the subjective feelings of animals. Yew-Kwang Ng defines animal welfare in terms of economics, Welfare biology is the study of living things. Despite difficulties of ascertaining and measuring welfare and relevancy to normative issues and they have offered the following eight principles for developing and evaluating animal welfare policies. Decisions regarding animal care, use, and welfare shall be made by balancing scientific knowledge, Animals must be provided water, food, proper handling, health care, and an environment appropriate to their care and use, with thoughtful consideration for their species-typical biology and behavior. Animals should be cared for in ways that minimize fear, pain, stress, procedures related to animal housing, management, care, and use should be continuously evaluated, and when indicated, refined or replaced. Conservation and management of animal populations should be humane, socially responsible, Animals shall be treated with respect and dignity throughout their lives and, when necessary, provided a humane death
7.
Ranch
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A ranch is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in Mexico, the Western United States and Canada, people who own or operate a ranch are called ranchers, cattlemen, or stockgrowers. Ranching is also a used to raise less common livestock such as elk, American bison or even ostrich, emu. Ranches generally consist of areas, but may be of nearly any size. In the western United States, many ranches are a combination of owned land supplemented by grazing leases on land under the control of the federal Bureau of Land Management. If the ranch includes arable or irrigated land, the ranch may also engage in an amount of farming, raising crops for feeding the animals, such as hay. Ranches that cater exclusively to tourists are called guest ranches or, colloquially, most working ranches do not cater to guests, though they may allow private hunters or outfitters onto their property to hunt native wildlife. Ranching is part of the iconography of the Wild West as seen in Western movies, the person who owns and manages the operation of a ranch is usually called a rancher, but the terms cattleman, stockgrower, or stockman are also sometimes used. If this individual in charge of management is an employee of the actual owner. A rancher who primarily raises young stock sometimes is called an operator or a cow-calf man. This person is usually the owner, though in cases, particularly where there is absentee ownership. The people who are employees of the rancher and involved in handling livestock are called a number of terms, including cowhand, ranch hand, people exclusively involved with handling horses are sometimes called wranglers. Ranching and the tradition originated in Spain, out of the necessity to handle large herds of grazing animals on dry land from horseback. During the Reconquista, members of the Spanish nobility and various military orders received large land grants that the Kingdom of Castile had conquered from the Moors and these landowners were to defend the lands put into their control and could use them for earning revenue. When the Conquistadors came to the Americas in the 16th century, followed by settlers, they brought their cattle, huge land grants by the Spanish government, part of the hacienda system, allowed large numbers of animals to roam freely over vast areas. A number of different traditions developed, often related to the location in Spain from which a settlement originated. For example, many of the traditions of the Jalisco charros in central Mexico come from the Salamanca charros of Castile, however, there were cattle on the eastern seaboard. Deep Hollow Ranch,110 miles east of New York City in Montauk, New York, claims to be the first ranch in the United States, the prairie and desert lands of what today is Mexico and the western United States were well-suited to open range grazing
8.
Cowboy
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A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle, in addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. There are also cattle handlers in many parts of the world, particularly South America and Australia. The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest European settlers of the Americas, over the centuries, differences in terrain, climate and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling. As the ever-practical cowboy adapted to the world, the cowboys equipment and techniques also adapted to some degree. The English word cowboy has an origin from several earlier terms that referred to both age and to cattle or cattle-tending work, the word cowboy appeared in the English language by 1725. It appears to be a direct English translation of vaquero, a Spanish word for an individual who managed cattle while mounted on horseback and it was derived from vaca, meaning cow, which came from the Latin word vacca. Another English word for a cowboy, buckaroo, is an anglicization of vaquero, originally, the term may have been intended literally—a boy who tends cows. By 1849 it had developed its sense as an adult cattle handler of the American West. Variations on the word cowboy appeared later, cowhand appeared in 1852, and cowpoke in 1881, originally restricted to the individuals who prodded cattle with long poles to load them onto railroad cars for shipping. Names for a cowboy in American English include buckaroo, cowpoke, cowhand, the word cowboy also had English language roots beyond simply being a translation from Spanish. Originally, the English word cowherd was used to describe a cattle herder, and often referred to a preadolescent or early adolescent boy and this word is very old in the English language, originating prior to the year 1000. In antiquity, herding of sheep, cattle and goats was often the job of minors, on western ranches today, the working cowboy is usually an adult. Responsibility for herding cattle or other livestock is no longer considered a job suitable for children or early adolescents. However, both boys and girls growing up in a ranch environment often learn to ride horses and perform basic ranch skills as soon as they are physically able, such youths, by their late teens, are often given responsibilities for cowboy work on the ranch. The term cowboy was used during the American Revolution to describe American fighters who opposed the movement for independence, in the same period, a number of guerilla bands operated in Westchester County, which marked the dividing line between the British and American forces. These groups were made up of local farmhands who would ambush convoys, there were two separate groups, the skinners fought for the pro-independence side, the cowboys supported the British
9.
Livestock branding
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Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to a hot brand for large stock, other forms of livestock identification include inner lip or ear tattoos, earmarking, ear tagging, and RFID tagging with a type of microchip. The semi-permanent paint markings used to identify sheep are called a paint or colour brand, in the American West, branding evolved into a complex marking system still in use today. The act of marking livestock with fire-heated marks to identify ownership has origins in ancient times, among the ancient Romans, the symbols used for brands were sometimes chosen as part of a magic spell aimed at protecting animals from harm. In English lexicon, the brand, common to most Germanic languages, originally meant anything hot or burning, such as a firebrand. By the European Middle Ages, it identified the process of burning a mark into stock animals with thick hides, such as cattle. The practice became widespread in nations with large cattle grazing regions. These European customs were imported to the Americas and were refined by the vaquero tradition in what today is the southwestern United States. In the American West, a branding iron consisted of a rod with a simple symbol or mark. After the branding iron turned red hot, the cowboy pressed the branding iron against the hide of the cow, the unique brand meant that cattle owned by multiple ranches could then graze freely together on the open range. Cowboys could then separate the cattle at roundup time for driving to market, cattle rustlers using running irons were ingenious in changing brands. The most famous brand change involved the making of the X I T brand into the Star-Cross brand, brands became so numerous that it became necessary to record them in books that the ranchers could carry in their pockets. Laws were passed requiring the registration of brands, and the inspection of cattle driven through various territories, penalties were imposed on those who failed to obtain a bill of sale with a list of brands on the animals purchased. From the Americas, many cattle branding traditions and techniques spread to Australia, livestock branding has been practiced in Australia since 1866, but after 1897, owners had to register their brands. These fire and paint brands could not then be duplicated legally, free-range or open-range grazing is less common today than in the past. However, branding still has its uses, the main purpose is in proving ownership of lost or stolen animals. Many western US states have laws regarding brands, including brand registration. In many cases, a brand on an animal is considered prima facie proof of ownership, in the hides and leather industry, brands are treated as a defect, and can diminish the value of hides
10.
Horse gait
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Horse gaits are the various ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans. Special training is required before a horse will perform an ambling gait in respond to a riders command. Another system of classification that applies to quadrupeds uses three categories, walking and ambling gaits, running or trotting gaits, and leaping gaits. The British Horse Society Dressage Rules require competitors to perform four variations of the walk, six forms of the trot, five leaping gaits, halt, and rein back, the British Horse Society Equitation examinations also require proficiency in the gallop as distinct from the canter. The so-called natural gaits, in increasing order of speed, are the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Some consider these as three gaits, with the canter a variation of the gallop, even though the canter is distinguished by having three beats, whereas the gallop has four beats, all four gaits are seen in wild horse populations. While other intermediate speed gaits may occur naturally to some horses, in some animals the trot is replaced by the pace or an ambling gait. Horses who possess an ambling gait are usually able to trot. The walk is a gait that averages about 4 miles per hour. When walking, a horses legs follow this sequence, left leg, left front leg, right hind leg, right front leg. At the walk, the horse will alternate between having three or two feet on the ground, a horse moves its head and neck in a slight up and down motion that helps maintain balance. In detail, suppose the horse starts by lifting its left front leg and it then lifts its right hind leg. Next, the front foot touches the ground, then the horse lifts its right front leg. Then it lifts its rear leg, puts down the front right, lifts the left front, puts down the rear left. Ideally, the rear hoof oversteps the spot where the previously advancing front hoof touched the ground. The more the rear hoof oversteps, the smoother and more comfortable the walk becomes, individual horses and different breeds vary in the smoothness of their walk. However, a rider will almost always some degree of gentle side-to-side motion in the horses hips as each hind leg reaches forward. The fastest walks with a footfall pattern are actually the lateral forms of ambling gaits such as the running walk, singlefoot
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