Pushing the Barrier by Speed Williams - February 2010
Riding your horse across the line
How you ride across the line is the biggest difference in headers that win and headers that place. Most ropers underestimate the importance of how well your horse leaves off your hand and how well you catch up to your cattle.
A major problem is that headers tend to pull on the bridle rein as they’re leaving the box. They use the reins for balance and to pull themselves from the back of the saddle – all without realizing it. Once you release your horse’s head when leaving the box, you have to let him go and allow him to run.
To prevent using the reins for balance put weight in your stirrups and lean forward while you ride across the line, this will prevent the momentum from blowing you back, out of the saddle. Balancing properly, with the horse, as you leave the box, allows you to catch up to the cow much faster and not run as far down the arena. When you pull on the reins as you’re leaving the box, your horse accelerates at a slow speed and you end up further down the arena before you get your shot.
On a young horse the best way to keep him quiet is never make him run. Just ease out and let him lope up to the cow at a slow speed. When you’re competing, you have to get your horse from the back of the box to the cow as quickly as possible and then rate. The faster your horse can run across the line, the more time you have to catch and handle the cow.
What’s new with me – I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed myself like I have the last couple of weeks. I have a young man at the house for a month-long school. Every day I spend a few hours working on my videos for my website at www.speedwilliamsteamroping.com. After lunch we go to the roping pen. The entire session is filmed and afterwards Casey and I review his roping and talk about what he needs to work on. Then I burn a DVD that he takes to his trailer to study. Being able to teach like this is very gratifying. What makes this more fun is having my family in the arena roping with me. There’s never been a time in my life where I wasn’t under a lot of pressure of one kind or another. It’s very refreshing to relax and enjoy what I’m doing.
Official Rope of
Fast Back Ropes, Inc. • Granbury, TX • 800-479-1851