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By TINA FORDE
Valley Press Business Editor
The public is invited to the ranch's Old California Reata Roping & Stock Horse Contest, scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Tejon Equestrian Center.
Equestrian Center manager Aaron Dickinson said the events will be carried out "in the style and tradition of the old California vaqueros."
The vaqueros, he said, attained great skill in working with cattle on the open range.
"They didn't have modern machinery," Dickinson said. "All they had was horses. They did their work humanely. They had a product to sell and a condition to maintain.
"The training style has been handed down from the Spanish war horses. They work cows humanely, cleanly and as effectively as possible."
The events will include demonstrations of stock horse style of horsemanship and cattle handling, roping and reata calf branding.
The cowboys will not do any actual branding, he said. Judges Pat Puckett, founder of the Californio Ranch Horse Association, and Mike Lund will assess how well the teams rope the calves. The judging is based on strict rules, the foremost of which relates to the treatment of the animal.
A reata, Dickinson explained, is a four-strand rope braided out of rawhide, which is leather that has not been tanned. The reata is the original rope used by the vaqueros and is more difficult to handle than modern ropes. The braided rawhide ropes are 60 to 90 feet long, cost $300 to $500 and last "a year or two."
"It breaks easier," Dickinson said. "It takes more finesse to use. The way you throw it is considerably different. It's an art form."
Twenty teams of three competitors each - "45 to 60 folks" - from ranches all over California will be competing, Dickinson said. Some are retired and some are working cowboys, some from the Tejon Ranch and some from as far away as Idaho.
"They should be on the road right now," Dickinson said Wednesday. They will be camping at the ranch for the weekend.
The events begin Friday afternoon at 4 with informal demonstrations of roping, a tri-tip barbeque and a showing of "Tapadero," a video of California ranches.
Saturday events begin at 8 a.m. with a trade show and reata calf branding; ranch-style cattle doctoring after lunch; in the evening, a Mexican food dinner, a calcutta, in which the audience bids on teams and earns the right to the winning money; and casual cowboy entertainment.
On Sunday, the trade show continues, with ranch cutting, stock horse contest, beginners calf branding and, after lunch, "California's Best Handle" (how well a rider handles a horse, as in "you have a good handle on that horse.")
The cost is $5 for noncontestants and an additional $10 to eat.
To reach the Tejon Equestrian Center, exit I-5 at Lebec (exit 207) and follow the signs.
For details, call Dickinson at (661) 343-7654 or visit www.tejonranch.com; click on ranching and then equestrian center.
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