Rodeo: Calf Roping

[Snarkbyte]

Calf-roping is probably my favorite rodeo event because of the extraordinary teamwork between the cowboy and the horse. Many people (including myself) claim that the horse is actually the more important member of the team. I'm tempted to post a montage of rapid-sequence photos of a single ride to illustrate the point, but a montage with a total width of 700px just won't reveal enough detail. Pay attention to the horses in these shots: how they're always completely focused on the calf, and the timing and strength of the stop. A good roping horse actually makes more decisions than the cowboy.

C&C is invited and appreciated, of course.

#1: The chase. This particular calf zip-zagged all over the place, requiring a lot of adjustments in the pursuit.


#2: The throw. There was a cross-wind with 40 mph gusts during this event.


#3: The capture. Probably the best roping horse I saw all day in this shot.


#4: The stop. The horse's eyes never leave the calf. Good brakes.


#5: Teamwork. I like this shot because it conveys a sense of teamwork. The heads of the cowboy and horse are close together and nearly level, with both focused on the calf.

[wilgk]

What a great series!
As they say timing is everything and yours is perfect with all of these - particularly #3 for me.

[jiro]

You're getting good practice on these shots, Al. Nice work! Keep it up, bruddah.

[Shadowman]

The action is great in all the images but #4 has the best sharpness. A good example of capturing a moment in time. It would have been even better if the rider's face was visible like in the fifth photo. As a series it works even better.

[Geoff F]

C&C is invited and appreciated, of course.

C&C on a set of perfect photos is difficult! Probably the worst I could find is that with the fifth image you appear to have either focused on the background instead of the horse/rider's faces which has left them a tad on the soft side; or it might just be that the action was a fraction fast for your shutter speed.

But that is a very minor point. My only other complaint is that photo #6 is missing!

[Snarkbyte]

Thanks, everyone. Geoff, I agree #5 is rather soft in focus, but I posted it anyway. I'll correct the omission of #6 here: If you look closely for several seconds, you can see a horse and a flag in the picture.

#6: Speaking of chasing and roping...