Breaking It Down
Speed Williams
When you practice do you have specific goals in mind with a clear-cut game plan, or do you and your partner go make some nice runs? Making nice runs in the practice pen may be fun, but it really doesn’t do much to help your roping.
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With most of my head horses on the injured list I have chosen to stay home this summer. Rather than enter the BFI and summer rodeos, I’m going to let my horses heal, teach some schools, and work on my roping.
This month I want to talk about parents and their kids roping. My children are now nine and six. Hali is nine and is all about gymnastics. Gabriel is six, into baseball and has a game every week. I have told them from the beginning I would never make them rope. I might entice them, if possible, because I enjoy them being in the arena with me. Whatever they choose to do, I want them to work at it, and I will support them.
Scoring is one of the hardest; most complicated and debated aspects of team roping. Everyone has their own ideas about scoring and even the top 15 ropers in the world all do things a little differently. This can create some problems when trying a new horse. There are many factors involved, but ultimately it comes down to communicating with your horse effectively.