A lot of us have roped all our lives and still take for granted all the tiny things that need to happen as we’re riding around warming up to compete.
For instance, if I’m mentally preparing myself for a rodeo run, the first thing I do is find out about the cattle. You need to know more than just whether they’re big or little – you can see that for yourself.
What you’re looking to find out is how strong they are or how fresh, so you can prepare yourself as well as possible mentally. Sometimes you can even find somebody who ran your steer at a rodeo last week and you can dig up that guy’s cell phone number through mutual friends.
Getting a picture in your mind of what your run’s going to be like is just smart roping. The next thing I do is take note of the size of the arena (how long and how wide) and the length of the score. And here’s a big one – check out the ground. You may tease barrel racers, but it obviously helps them ride when they know how fast or slow the footing is that day. Evaluating the ground is really important for guys like us.
For instance, if you’re about to rope a big, slower type of steer in deep sand that’s kind of shifty, you know it will be a real slow-motion corner. That information tells me that maybe I should re-think wearing my spurs, and maybe I don’t quite have enough bit in my horse’s mouth.
In order to keep my spacing, I might switch to my ported chain bit and rope-nose tie-down, take my spurs off and shorten that tie-down strap. Everything I’m doing is about getting that horse collected and making it easier for me to keep him off the corner when I know it will be slow.
Next, what’s my partner’s style of roping? Does he usually hold his horse in and kind of float the cattle down the arena a little bit, or is he known for roping coming to them or letting his horse’s shoulder drop? What’s his horse like? Does he tend to stand up in the corner or drop out?
Finally, I get to myself and my horse. Is he acting fresh today? Maybe I need to lope him more than usual so he’s ridden down, but then just walk so he can still be relaxed riding in the box. Or maybe he’s been hauled hard and he’s tired. Maybe I walk him a bunch and toward the end, get his heart rate going and even blow him out a couple times up and down the arena. How I prepare my horse is really important.
These are all the details that make up your Roping IQ, so to speak. A lot of times what looks like good luck is really good preparation. And good preparation is just smart roping.
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