ArizonaRealCountry.com 27 July 2019 To Dally Or Not To Dally? Reprinted from @CraigSmithTeamRoping on InstaGram There are a couple of reasons why heelers shouldn’t dally every single time in the practice pen. One is to save wear & tear on steers. The other is to save wear & tear on horses. If we dally and stop hard every time, our horse might get sore and start making assumptions and cheating us. If we don’t dally and stop enough, our horse might get too free and not be in good position when it’s time to come tight in competition. I personally want a heel horse a little more free than short. If you’re catching a high percentage, that alone is going to tend to make them short already. I suggest dallying on 40-50% of the practice steers you catch, or 4-5 out of 10. Whatever you do, set your intention before you ever leave the box. If your game plan changes (ex. you rope a leg), then have a plan B in mind for that scenario as well. Avoid being casual, careless or indecisive – which leads to second-guessing, confused horses, and last minute decisions that can even be dangerous. Like many areas in life, we’re more apt to succeed when we have a clear, specific game plan and understanding of how details and our decisions contribute to our end result. Complete Your Dally, and Keep a Cool Head It was my first trailer roping and the stage was set. I was heeling at the time and had roped all my steers by two feet. I knew I had a good chance of winning. As my last steer jumped in my loop, I remember dallying with the ol’ “jackpot shutoff” just to make sure he wasn’t getting away. ⁣ After dallying, I remember looking at the flagger and he was still holding the flag up. He didn’t see my rope get pulled under the rubber on my saddle horn and he couldn’t see the full dally. I ended up winning 3rd place.⁣ At the time, it was heartbreaking to be so close to such a big win. However, after years of competing and doing some flagging myself, I understand now how difficult it can be, and that there are also times when circumstances get tipped in our favor.⁣ I’ve also learned that we should always be sure to hold our dally until the flag drops and make eye contact with the flagger before we turn loose. Never assume you’ve been given the flag because you think you’re faced and the ropes are tight. The flagger may have a different opinion.⁣ temporary indicator of some small change we should make, or it could have even been a fluke. It doesn’t have to be personal - we get to choose the meaning behind our results. We can even get excited about mistakes because they mean we’re learning. And if we’re not learning and growing, we’re dying... there’s no in between. As long as we learn from each run, make any necessary adjustments, and do our best in each moment - we’ll continue the steady climb to the top. As team ropers we’ve all been there - it’s incredibly frustrating to come up empty-handed, and even more so when we “don’t know what we don’t know.” I wrote Team Roping Tips to help you get started on the right foot and shorten the learning curve if you’re new to team roping, or make adjustments to reveal you and your horses greatest potential, even if you’re a seasoned pro. It’s not being an action-taker alone that ensures our success. It’s taking targeted and intentional actions to build solid fundamentals that will truly move the needle forward (and the clock back). The specific steps for doing so include, but go well beyond roping and also require a never-ending commitment to improving our horsemanship, as well as up-leveling our mental game and the horse health care we offer. I’ve included short, easy-reading tips for all of the above in this book. There’s more to team roping than team roping. I believe our passions come with a purpose, which is to follow them in a way that leaves the world a better place because we did. I’ve been blessed with a fulfilling and successful team roping career, and yet it’s just getting started. Team Roping Tips is a contribution and collection highlighting some of the lessons I’ve learned so far. I hope it makes a positive difference in your life and your roping. Get the new ‘Team Roping Tips’ book now – available on Amazon in print and for Kindle! To learn more, visit: CraigSmithTeamRoping.com If you are ever on the unfortunate end of what you think was a bad flag, keep in mind that flaggers are trying to do the best job they can to make fair judgment calls. Even in situations that call for a dispute, we can choose to not let it negatively affect our attitude, and carry ourselves professionally and with good sportsmanship.⁣ The past can’t be changed, but we can always choose our attitude no matter the circumstances. And just because we roped poorly one day, doesn’t mean we’re not still competent ropers... it might be just a Whatever you do, set your intention before you ever leave the box. If your game plan changes, then have a plan B in mind. Avoid being casual, careless or indecisive – which leads to last minute decisions that can even be dangerous.