Do you always try to head your steers coming to them because you know your horse won’t rate off and you’ll end up getting too close, and then your reins will be up in your chest and it will mess with your delivery? You’re not alone – a lot of people unconsciously rush their throw because they know their horse won’t maintain position.
Heelers are no different. They come around and take their first good throw because they know if they take more than one or two extra swings, their horse will feel them leaning and start shutting them off. Do you feel like you need to take a throw before your heel horse cheats you? I’d rather rope when I’m ready. Being in position and in time is a higher percentage shot.
And you can fix it in your own practice sessions. Here’s a drill with my Smarty sled that lets you work on roping while riding position. It seems to really increase consistency for headers and heelers at my schools.
Any time you’re swinging your rope and your horse is moving – whether he’s slowing down to rate the steer or accelerating out of the box – you can have a tendency to get blown back or tipped forward with your feet behind you.
With this drill, you can work on keeping your feet under your hips and your hips under your shoulders while you rope. It’s that kind of balance that leads to a great swing – which leads to an accurate delivery.
If you’re a header, for instance, start following the sled in what I call “lane two” (to the left of the sled’s path). You’re riding balanced with the tip of your rope right where it belongs over the right horn. You have your reins short enough to where you can lope along at about 10 mph and stay a couple of strides back from the sled on purpose.
Continue swinging perfectly as you move into position. Take three strides in the perfect position and work on not getting too close or over-hustling your horse. Don’t be moving that left hand around. Simply let your horse concentrate on staying right there.
Now disengage your legs and tuck back on your reins to slow down. Without breaking stride, let Smarty advance away from you until he’s 40 or 50 feet out in front of you. Don’t let the tip of your rope come up as you pull on the reins to rate off. Work on maintaining your swing and your body position during the transition.
Once you’re back 40 or 50 feet from the sled, move back up into position again. Take a couple of swings there and then rope the horns. By doing this up and down the length of your arena with a sled, soon you’ll be riding and roping perfectly regardless of speed changes.
For more on my clinics and Smart Roping program, visit SmartRoping.com.