Siberian horsemen are said to have used shot-loaded whips to stun wolves. That was a long time ago. But the number of people who use whips in America to work cattle is minute compared to the number using other means. In Australia, MOST stockman working cattle carry a whip. One crack from a whip will move your biggest bull from here to there in about the same time it takes for an echo to die in the timber.
Whips are awesome, especially in the hands of an expert.
They are never used to actually strike cattle. The very finest of Australian whips are made from kangaroo hide, which is woven around a tapered leather core. Good whips move like snakes, rolling easily, carrying their curl at ever-increasing speed right to the end of the popper, where an explosion is caused by the sudden release of energy. The whip was the first man-made object to go through the sound barrier. He once had his own talk show on cable television.