Breaking It Down
Speed Williams
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
When my daughter first started junior rodeo, I showed her how to find out which steer she drew, who had run him and then to go look at her calf or steer before competing. I told her she needed to make a visual assessment. Did he look sick, thin, fat, or anything else that could hint at how he may run? Then she needed to run the scenario in her mind of what she thought he would do and, ultimately how she would respond. It was something I did back when I competed. I gathered as much information as possible on the steer or calf before I ran him. Finding out his track record enabled me to make an educated guess of what he may do when the gates banged.
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By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
One of the things I work at the most when teaching heading and breakway roping is getting a good start. It’s probably one of the most complex things because there are so many factors and variables that can affect you. A lot of people train horses on a loose rein and kick start so they can stay very calm in the box. You don’t ever get them hot, mad or breathing fire. You can get away with that in the lower number ropings and when you’re not trying to go fast and be 4 or 5 in team roping, or a 1 or 2 in the breakaway.
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
Recently I was in my home state of Florida for three two-day schools. One of our discussions was “how do you get better.” When I’m teaching I give my students a scenario to complete – whether it’s an 11-second run or 5-second run. Then while watching the video, I break it down and look at every move both their left and right hands make and what their legs are doing during the run. We look at wasted motion during the run. It’s no different than looking at a business and eliminating excess expenses. When roping we need to eliminate excess time it takes to rope the cow. Starting from how you start your rope to how you face your horse.
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
For most team ropers the hardest steer to catch is when they are high team back, have 11 seconds to win and all they have to do is catch. Watch the ropings and notice how many teams fail in that situation. It’s not as common in the higher numbers, but it does happen. The lower number roping, the more common it is. Often times little things go wrong and that’s where you have to be able to ride and control your horse and take a high percentage shot.