rn; then it would be awkward, unless you could throw
with either hand. I usually throw with my left hand, though I can use
either.

"I take up the rope from the saddle bow, so."

He lifted his riata in his right hand. His little finger held the
standing end of the rope, the third and middle finders supported the
coil, and the noose dangled from his first finger, while his thumb
steadied the whole rope and held it from slipping. The coils were not
more than a foot or a foot and a half in diameter. The noose was the
same size.

"That's a smaller noose than you would use on the range, is it not?"

"No," answered Mr. Ohnimus, "the vaquero never carries his noose long.
If he did, it would be constantly getting tangled up in the horse's
legs. He makes it larger when he swings it. But to get back to the
process of lassoing. As our cowboy gets close to his quarry, he takes
the noose in his lasso hand. I will use my left, as it is a trifle
handier for me. He grips the rope, not too firmly, holding the
standing part and the side of the noose about half the length of the
loop away from the knot. That is to enable him to swing the noose so
that it will fall open. If he holds it at the knot he will throw a
long, narrow noose that is very likely to cross and kink.

"Meanwhile I, representing our cowboy, hold the remaining coils in my
other hand, only changing the position of my forefinger so as to secure
better control of the coils. Then comes the third maneuver--enlarging
the noose. Of course, you have to have a larger noose than one a foot
in diameter to drop over a steer's horns forty feet away. The noose is
enlarged by swinging the noose in your lasso hand until the centrifugal
force pulls it out the size you wish (this is the reason you do not
grasp it too firmly), letting go with the other hand, of course, as
many coils as are necessary to make the noose the right size. Now you
have the noose in the air you do not cease making it circle around your
head until you let it go. When the noose has been let out to the right
size the next trouble is to keep it open and to avoid entangling it in
the brush or other surrounding obstructions. You keep it open, as I
said, by holding the noose from quarter to half its length from the
knot, and by a peculiar twist of the wrist that is only attainable by
practice. To keep it clear of the brush is often a more difficult job,
for the cowboy is not always in a clear place