At El Paso, during the roping contests there, Clay McConagill did this feat in the wonderful time of 21½ seconds, counting from the time the steer left the chute till Clay’s hands were in the air. He is the champion Texas roper, and holds the world’s record for a single tie. But in a long-distance contest held in San Antonio he was beaten by Ellison Carrol of Oklahoma, who tied in this manner twenty-eight consecutive steers in 18 minutes and 58½ seconds, or an average of 40⅗ seconds each, one of these ties being made in 22 seconds flat, or within ½ second of the record. One who has not seen these contests can hardly form an idea of the speed and skill both of horse and man necessary to accomplish such a feat as this, or of the excitement among the audience of cattlemen, all of whom, being good riders and ropers themselves, can appreciate every move made. There is considerable risk also attached to it. For instance, a friend of mine had the misfortune to get a coil of his rope round his arm as he threw, and as the rope drew taut it cut his hand off at the wrist; and yet he had been born and raised on a ranch! The S.P.C.A. are now trying, if they have not already succeeded, to put a stop to these contests on the ground of cruelty to the steers. But I can see no sense in this, for steers are roped and thrown every day in this manner on the ranch, during the season of the screw-worm fly, in order to kill the worms with carbolic and chloroform, and they do not seem to be very much hurt; and this is where the puncher gets his practice in the course of his work. Great broncho-busting (horse-breaking) contests are also held in different parts of the West, where the worst horses from all over the country are brought for the men to try on. In these contests, if a man lay hand on any part of his saddle, or tries to lock his big spurs into the girth of the saddle, he is disqualified. At one of these contests, Sowder, one-time champion, for a bet drank a bottle of soda-water, without spilling a drop, while his horse was bucking. Some horses develop a devilish ingenuity in trying to get rid of their riders. They will buck straight ahead, and suddenly, while in the air, make a twist and turn almost end for end by the time they land. They will buck and twist first one way and then the other alternately, squealing all the time with impotent rage. There used to be a big negro in Calgary called Uncle Tom, who never seemed so happy as when on a bad horse. When his horse bucked, his face would suddenly open back to the ears in a grin, and he would holloa, "Dere’s de boy, good boy"; and when the horse tired, he would pull off his hat and whack it over the head and flank.