Calf roping, or tie-down roping, was originally practiced by ranch hands as a means to catch calves for branding and doctoring. When out in the middle of a pasture with no fences to corral a calf, a cowboy was left with his sturdy rope and trusty horse.
Prideful cowboys boasted about the speed in which they could catch and tie calves, which inevitably sparked an informal competition. It didn’t take long before tie-down roping caught on with the rest of the West and became a major rodeo event.
