More on Horsemanship Knots - Practical use

In this year's annual Functional Horsemanship Arena Challenge for the first time I included the requirement to tie several knots for the Stockhorse division. I felt that anyone aspiring to be a good hand should know some useful basic knots. Thinking that most people can tie a square knot, I settled on the clove hitch, bowline and sheet bend. I didn't ambush competitors with these knots to tie as I view the annual challenge as more of a learning tool then some sort of test, so I sent out an e-mail a month before the Event letting competitors know they would be required to tie the three knots; wrote an article on this site with photos and a video to help them practice; and, I included knot tying practice in the couple of clinics I did prior to the Challenge. Feedback was positive on including knot tying with the exception of one rider who commented that he would have liked to see a hangman's knot, so they could hang me for making them tie knots.

During the clinics I did get asked on what use these knots were for. So, I went over common uses mainly for the clove hitch and the bowline. I believe that when teaching someone a skills, minor or major, it really helps to impart the how and why of the usefulness of those skills. However, for the purposes of the Challenge I pretty much concentrated on just how to tie the knots as opposed to why they are important and how they are used. I did do a couple of earlier videos prior to the Challenge, that I did not publish prior to the Challenge but which I am posting below, to help better explain the usefulness of the clove hitch and bowline knots.

The Bowline knot. In the video below I have tied a bowline in the end of a short piece of rope and dressed that knot down (tightened it up) so it was about the size and resemblance to a honda on a lariat. About 18-20 inches down the rope from the bowline (honda) I made an overhand knot in the rope so when I fed the other end of the rope through the bowline that overhand knot becomes a stop from the loop closes down - so it's a simple knotted neck rope much like you would do with a lariat if you were roping unhandled or green colts for the first time.

The Clove Hitch. In the video below I show how I secure the lead end of a mecate to the saddle horn using a clove hitch. It is useful when I am on the ground and not using the lead portion of the mecate such as free lunging my horse, putting him a pen or trailer for a short period of time. Anyway, I hope that these two functional uses of basic knots begin to illustrate the benefits of knowing how to tie these knots.