Top-Notch Whip Cracking is for Kids, Too

       A local university in Los Angeles hosted an annual Farm Day to celebrate the state’s agricultural heritage, and they agreed to let me give whip lessons to kids. The sultry afternoon was festive, the lessons were quick, because I could get a child to cracking in about five minutes with a short whip. I offered safety glasses and a small cowboy hat to protect the kids, kneeling behind them to guide their hands through the moves. If they screwed up, my back would receive the errant blow instead of the child’s. My leather vest got a workout on those days.

The only thing I would have done differently would have been to have disinfectant spray to cloud the inside of the cowboy hat between the kids. I was lucky that none of them had scalp conditions, fleas or nits.

It was a pleasure on many levels. I could introduce kids to a skill they’d only seen on TV or in movies. The first time they’d crack a whip, some of them were shocked that there was no gimmick to the loud report, but they all stood taller and exuded more confidence after they’d cracked a whip for the first time — especially the smaller kids.

Why is whip cracking not in any school’s curriculum?