I was able to watch a man in his seventies head some steers a few weeks ago. He had been roping most of his life. He headed about eight steers, turned them all to be seven or eight seconds on them. I wasn’t surprised that he caught them all, but was really surprised as the heeler came in and made clean runs and caught them all behind him. I had a chance to ask him about those runs later that day. I told him that to watch him was inspirational. He replied that tomorrow he would head for me.
Anxious about the prospect of heeling behind him, I was up early, got my horse fed and was ready before he showed up. He gave me a heeling lesson on the ground and showed me a few things to correct. He said that if I made those slight changes I would catch them all. He had another friend head for me so that he could give him instruction on how to set the steer up. It was amazing how nicely it worked when the header did what he said. I was able to catch each of the steers on the third or fourth hop.
I couldn’t wait to get home and practice what I had learned. I soon realized that in order for me to be able to catch the way I had, a header had to handle the cattle the way he did. I began to lose my inspiration. It slowly faded into motivation to get a header to handle steers like he had. I learned that motivation is an incentive to create an action, whereas inspiration is to impart an influence that will cause someone to work on changing their roping style to better the team.
We are all responsible for our own inspiration. What is it that inspires you? It could be a rodeo, BFI, video, or a lesson. Whatever it is, narrow it down to what works for you. Learn how to keep it alive.
It isn’t enough just to be inspired through roping. There is true inspiration in life. This comes from a relationship with God as your friend. Read His word and you will find that it will begin to impart a divine influence on your mind and soul. He desires that you find true inspiration for everyday living by yielding yourself to Him, and by allowing Him to slowly change your life for the better. Rope great! Be an inspiration in and out of the arena.
Thank you for your prayer requests and comments. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.