b"FROM THE BACK OF THE BOXBy John SamsillFor all your team roping questions or to set up a lesson or a clinic contact me directly at johnsamsillteamroping@gmail.comA ll the team roping events I know of are closed as of the writing of this article because of the coronavirus. Some closed about a month ago. It will be the beginning of May when this article comes out and I hope things are starting to get back to normal but as of now we just dont know. Being an optimist, I want to write about getting back in the swing of things. If youre lucky enough to have your own arena and have kept roping during the shutdown, youhow we ride our horse is just as important as how we should be just fine. If you dont have an arena youswing our rope. Our horses are just as much a part will probably have a little work to do to get readyof the team as the partner were roping with. Good to compete again. My first suggestion is to evaluatecommunication with our horses is critical because how good of shape your horse is in. Horses that arethey depend on our cues, starting with leaving the ridden regularly and are in good shape will performbox and ending with the head horse facing and the better and are less likely to injure themselves. So,heel horse stopping at the correct time.take the time to get them back into shape. It will pay dividends in the long run.Another thing we lose when we take time off from roping is our timing. We lose timing with our horse, So, turning our attention on ourselves what do wethe timing of our delivery, even the timing of our need to do? Well, I know whats worked for me in thecues to our horse. Whether Im working on myself past. Like your horse, you may be out of roping shapeafter a layoff or a horse thats had time off, I start also. What I mean by that is that we take it for grantedback slow and precise. Its the same as when we that we can swing a rope for long periods. Whenstart back on the dummy, do everything as correct I came back from shoulder surgery my shoulderas possible. This just means slow down and rope was fine, but it took me a while to build up enoughsmooth and methodical. Dont just go practice and stamina that I could rope the dummy even twentysee how it turns out, set you and your horse up for times. It took me back to when I was a kid five or sixthe best results possible. After a short time of this years old, I wanted to rope all day long, but everyonetype of practice, you and your horse will regain your told me that if you rope until your arm gets tiredtiming and confidence. When you start back resist you will pick up bad habits. When our muscles getthe temptation to keep roping past the point you tired, we change how we swing, creating new muscleknow you should stop. Run your five or six steers memory. Thus, a new habit is born, and we arentthen evaluate where you and your horse need to even aware of where it came from. Ive always said Iimprove and stop. This will set you up for a better would rather throw five correct loops than 50 loopspractice next time and in the long run it will be that arent, just for the sake of throwing my rope andfaster than trying to get everything done in one day. saying, I roped the dummy 50 times today. This isI would rather end my practice ten steers too soon also true about how we ride. If our legs or back getthan one too late.tired we will compensate how we ride our horse and how we distribute our weight in the saddle, so beI hope these tips that Ive learned over the years aware of how you're riding your horse also. Its easy towill help you when the roping events begin again get a little lazy or lackadaisical about our riding butbut these are also good tips for when youre going through a slump or it seems that your horse suddenly isnt working well. I used to think that I could just practice more to try and move past any slump I was in. When I learned that I had to back up to move forward it really helped my roping and my horsemanship.169 E Wickenburg WayUntil next time, Ill see you atWickenburg, AZ 85390the back of the box. 928-684-6123Thank you to my sponsors,Opens at 11:00am DAILYUsher Brand Silver and Saddlery, SaddleRightSaddle Pads, Omega Fields Feeds, and Hassayampa Veterinary Services.ArizonaRealCountry.com May 2020 11"