ArizonaRealCountry.com 41 November 2017 1Know your horse, ride your horse, become one. 2Bond with your horse, just like a car you should be able to get in it in the dark, you know where the light switch is, you know where the key is, the brake, the gas, just by driving it every day. 3It doesn’t matter the color, the breed, the size or the age of your horse! Your horse doesn’t need 5 years of pro training to sort or pen, they just need you to believe and trust in them! 4You don’t have to ride your horse fast to get to know them, or even sort or pen cattle or be with anyone, just like your car, you don’t have to go fast to know everything about it! 5Your horse also needs to trust you, and you can get that by just being with them. They don’t have to have a sliding stop, a roll back, or any of that fancy stuff to be a good sorting or penning partner. All they need is to be willing to do what you ask, and be able to relax in the heat of battle. That confidence comes from you, goes to your horse, and then to the cattle, to your partners and then to your partners horse! 6Focus on what you want! Not on what you don’t want! Always looking and focusing on the next numbered cow! What you focus on happens! 7Start slow, if you don’t start a fire, you don’t have to put one out! 8Adapt, accept a role, holder, sorter, rotate 1st in the herd or last in the herd and remember the word “Team”. More power in we than in me! 9Always be in the present moment. Develop a ritual, two fingers up when you cross the line, or anything else that tells you that your mind is in the present and being able to leave all the problems, all the work, all the week’s activities behind you. Just play the game! 10Always communicate with your team- mates, calling out the next number of cattle, slow down, step up, and move over. 11Practicing all these positives and having fun is the only way that you get great and to do what you need to! Team Penning & Sorting Tips