b'From the Back OF THE BOXBy John SamsillFor all your team roping questions or to schedule a clinic or a private lesson you can contact me directly at johnsamsillteamroping@gmail.comT here have been some rather lively conversations in our practice pen lately. I would like to share some of them with you.I am hoping that at least one or two pertain to you.The first one is about what roping to rope in.A four-plus header has been coming over to practice and he is looking to move into the higher number ropings.He has been roping in the number eights and nines, but a few times he has entered the ten. His question is how does he make that transition and get the higher number heelers to enter with him?The first thing I said to him was to forget his number.Numbers change all the time and if you start moving up to the higher-numbered ropings and winning then your number will change.That is a given.So, forget what your number is now and start to rope like you already have a higher number.If you want better heelers, you have to know what they are looking for in a header.This is where versatility with your roping and having a high roping IQ helps.As a four-plus if he enters the ten, he will be roping with a number six, if he enters a twelve, he will be roping with a number eight, or at least that is the goal.As you have probably already figured out a six does not rope like an eight, but they are looking for many of the same things in a header.And this is where his focus needs to be. First, score well.Have your horse leaving the box flat and off of your hand.Scoring is still important even with a world series start.Second, catch a high percentage of your steers.Its ok at a jackpot to take an extra swing over the steers back, maybe even two if you can, but be prepared to rope when you get to the steer.Remember, it is a timed event and as you move up in competition time matters more and more. Third, be able to handle your cattle.With shorter scores and slower cattle in the lower numbered ropings its quite a bit easier to handle steers.With longer scores and faster cattle in the upper divisions, it becomes a little more difficult.Make sure your horse is soft in the corner and responsive to your cues.If you can handle cattle, catch a high percentage and do it in a time that can win money, then youre ready to move up. The second question that I have been getting is how does a heeler make an entry on steers that run to the right fence? Team roping is about timing and angles. When a steer runs to the right it does make it harder to make a smooth run but not impossible.Why does it make it more difficult?Our horses are in the left lead or should be when they leave the box and now everything is running to the right making it more difficult for our horses to move over to the steer.When a steer runs to the right in front of a heeler, he must back off to give the header a chance to move over and rope the steer. This puts the steer right in front of us instead of to the left; this puts us behind the steer, taking away the best angle to make our entry.It also takes away the room needed to make a left turn towards the steer.Lots of jackpot cattle run to the right because of the heeling barrier, so how do we overcome it? The first thing we have to do to make a good entry on these types of steers is to learn to be patient.A lot of heelers describe it as knowing when to play defense and knowing when to play offense. When leaving the box, you can play offense, getting into a position to make a good entry. This not only involves how wide you are but how high you are.A lot of horses have different positions and so do heelers but when the steer moves over in front of us then he has taken all options away from us.So now we have no choice but to play defense.This is where we have to be patient and wait for things to develop in front of us.It will take the header an extra jump or two to move a steer from moving right into moving left.Once the steer has started moving left and given us some room between him and the fence, we play offense by moving up but not turning left.Once we have a position that gives our horse enough room to turn left and to the inside of the steer, we can begin our entry.So as a heeler you can see that we have to know when to play offense and when to play defense and make those decisions very quickly.I hope some of the tips have helped you.Next month I will talk about some of the other questions I have been getting lately. So, until next time Ill see you at the back of the box. I would like to thank my sponsors, Usher Brand Silver and Saddlery, OmegaFields Feeds, SaddleRight Saddle Pads, and Hassayampa Veterinary Services. ArizonaRealCountry.com October 2020 61'