A lasso is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is made from stiff rope so that the noose stays open when the lasso is thrown, and it allows the cowboy to easily open up the noose from horseback to catch the target. The word "lasso" is also a verb; to lasso is to throw the loop of rope around something. Lassos are a well-known tool of the Mexican and South American cowboys, then adopted by the cowboys of the United States. They are used today in rodeos as part of the competitive events, such as calf roping and team roping. Lassos are also still used on working ranches to capture cattle or other livestock when necessary. The lasso is a rope 60 to 100 feet in length with a slip noose at one end, used in the Spanish and Portuguese parts of the Americas and in the western United States and Canada for catching wild horses and cattle. The lasso is also mentioned in the Greek Histories of Herodotus. The history behind the discovery of lassos shows that the rope with a loop was used as a preferred weapon of defense by the Huns to seize and capture their opponents in physical combat.