Perfecting the art of Trick Roping with Rider Kiesner
Cheyenne, Wyoming
No need to tell Rider Kiesner to get back in the saddle because he has been sitting or standing on one on for most of his life. He is a 5th-generation world-class trick roper who won his first rodeo buckle at the ripe old age of five years old. His love of trick roping began when he was given a Will Rogers Trick Roping Kit as a Christmas present, and he has been performing locally ever since.
Dedicated Champion
Now 24 years old, Rider has already won numerous major rodeo entertainment awards. He has been declared the World Champion Trick Roper four times, World Champion All Around Western Performer twice and the World Champion Gun Spinner twice, among other awards. Everyone can easily catch Rider Kiesner doing his rope tricks because he travels across the nation on the rodeo circuit, visiting every state except Hawaii. His international reputation for delivering exceptional rodeo entertaining is growing too. He has performed in Canada, France, Mexico, China, Taiwan and a number of Middle East and other countries.
Already a world champion, Rider is known for his dedication to perfecting trick roping, whip cracking and gun spinning. Trick roping is a unique sport requiring the development of personal skills and skilled horse training. The sport involves controlling the motion of a lasso, enticing it to behave exactly as desired while riding a horse or standing on the ground. It is a bit of a science in reality because physics is involved in keeping the lasso moving in the desired direction and at the right speed. The rodeo entertainment enjoyed today evolved from the days of the Wild West when cowboys lassoed cattle on the range and at ranches.
Entertainment at its Finest
There is a variety of tricks, and Rider Kiesner has mastered them all, developing his own flashy tricks that awe audiences. The fundamental tricks include:
• The flat loop – This is a horizontal loop with a spin. Expert entertainers can change the diameter, spin speed and spin direction while keeping the horizontal loop intact. It is thrilling to watch Rider keep a flat loop going around a horse in motion. The most common tricks using the flat loop are the Merry-Go-Round, Spoke Jumping and Wedding Ring.
• Vertical loop – This is a vertical loop with a spin. Expert trick ropers like Rider can do the Texas Skip in which the entertainer jumps through the spinning lasso.
• Butterfly – This is the most difficult of the basic tricks using a lasso and only accomplished ropers master it. The complex trick involves a small lasso loop maintained on a vertical plane. The small loop is passed from one side of the cowboy to the other. This fundamental roper trick serves as a the basis for a number of interesting and increasingly-complex moves, like the Zig-Zag, Arm or Shoulder Roll, Reverse Butterfly, Ocean Wave and a lot more.
Standing Ovations
Rider is unique among trick ropers because he has developed a fun style that is pure entertainment, from his fancy costumes to the amazing rope tricks he developed that make him a champion. For example, Rider can do the Texas skip on the back of a horse. He usually gets standing ovations after showcasing his elite skills for rodeo entertainment. The precision of the loop and spin, his continual pushing of the boundaries as to what a cowboy can make a lasso do, and the addition of gun spinning and whip cracking make a Rider Kiesner event a foray into the amazing.
To see the incredible tricks that Rider Kiesner can do with a horse under him and a lasso in his hand, visit the Cowboy Lifestyle Network (CLN) website or the CLN social media sites to find pictures and videos of the incredible rodeo entertainment that takes place in the ring. The “Cowboy Lifestyle Network, Ak-Chin Indian Community and Earnhardt Auto Centers Road Team” covers all the major rodeo entertainment events around the globe to share the western lifestyle. The CLN is the leading online source of rodeo information and community.
Rider Kiesner and Family at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo