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Cowboy Dictionary - Letter T

Tapaderos - Tapaderos (or "taps") are stirrups that have a hood over the front of the stirrup that covers the front part of the rider's foot. Tapaderos are sometimes called hooded stirrups.

Bekiw: Tapaderos or "taps."

Tapaderos serve several purposes, including:

They deflect brush to help keep the rider's foot from being pulled loose from the stirrup.
They prevent the foot from being stabbed with cacti or thorns.
They provide protection from weather, including to help provide extra warmth in cold weather.
They prevent the rider's foot from going through the stirrup, helping to avoid potentially serious accidents.

While riders of all types sometimes ride with tapaderos, they are particularly favored among working cowboys and cowgirls, people that ride in cold conditions, and trail riders.

Tapaderos are also frequently used with young riders, as many parents and riding instructors feel they are an essential safety precaution to keep children's feet from accidentally going through the stirrup.

You can shop for tapaderos here.

Three Legal Head Catches: In team roping and some other competitive roping events, there are three legal head catches:

1 - A whole head (the loop goes behind the entire head, or around the neck). A whole head catch is sometimes called "around the neck."

Whole head.

2 - Around the horns (the loop goes around both horns). This catch is sometimes called a "horn catch" or "a clean horn catch."

Around both horns.

3 - A half head (the loop goes behind one horn, underneath the chin, and in front of the other horn).

Half head.

Trap - A trap is a small pasture that serves as a temporary holding area for livestock.

The size of a trap is relative to the size of the rest of the property. For example, someone who owns a small property, such as 80 acres, might consider just one acre, or even 1/2 acre, to be a trap. Someone who owns or manages a larger property of several thousand acres might consider a trap to be several hundred acres, or even several sections (a section is 640 acres).

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