ArizonaRealCountry.com 59 November 2018 PERFORMANCE HORSES BUDDY & KIM ULDRIKSON Training Facility • Rope and Barrel Horses 928.231.3053 All Disciplines and Breeds • Training • Colt Starting • Tune Ups Private Lessons/Coaching • Horse Appraisals Let Us Find Your Next Winner! Buddyuldriksonhorsemanship.com diamondlilyhorses@gmail.com Reprinted from @CraigSmithTeamRoping on InstaGram There are several different ways ropers prefer to hold their reins and coils. After trying several different variations myself, I’ve found one that I prefer for high- level communication, as well as safety. It wasn’t until I was attending a roping school in college that the instructor watched me weave the leather reins through my fingers like a bull rider would do after they pull their rope tight. He said, “Just grab a hold of the reins.” He then demonstrated what he was trying to verbally communicate, but didn’t explain why I should do it that way. As I sat there waiting for him to finish, I thought to myself “I’ll do it his way until I get home, then I’ll go back to my way.” But I never went back to my way. I can see now from a safety standpoint that holding our reins and rope with the reins evenly folded in our palm and the coils neatly laid over them allows us to release everything as quickly as possible, reducing the risk of getting hung up and injured in the event of a mishap. This simple rein position also creates even contact with a horse throughout a run, helping them stay more square and balanced underneath us. When I back in the box, I keep my reins short and my hand as close to my horse’s neck as possible to eliminate any delay in response. This also makes it possible to make contact in the heat of the moment when our horses tend to shorten and elevate without having to raise my hand too high. Ultimately we want to develop a habit of using our hands and reins in a way that sets us up for clear & effective communication and quick, safe catches - this is the best way I have found to do so. When we have a solid position from the start, we're able to get our swing in time with our horse’s stride. It also ensures we can get the plane of our swing in the correct position to our target sooner. The less adjustment we have to make in a run, the faster we can be, and the better chance of success we'll have. It might only be a fraction of a second before I bring in my leg or make contact with the reins, but I always want to start with the most subtle request. Remember our horses won’t learn to respond to a cue any lighter than the ones we use first. It takes a conscious effort for those of us who initially learned to simply kick to go and pull to stop, but the more refined our communication in general, the more subtle we can be when things get more intense and quick, translating into less resistance and runs that are much smoother AND faster. Keeping Your Horn Tidy As ropers, we've all experienced the rubber on our saddle horn getting burnt up - maybe from pulling a steer that's a dragger or from taking a hard hit as a heeler after roping a big, fresh steer. We don’t always give much thought to the little frays of rubber that stick out or possibly even a couple of pieces completely tearing in two. It’s not uncommon to just wrap a couple of new pieces on and continue roping. For safety reasons I want to make sure I get a clean dally while minimizing the chance of my rope (or fingers) getting wound up due to loose pieces of rubber. If I need to let go of my rope, then I want to be able to release it and have it quickly come off the horn. I also keep the rubber on the horn tidy to allow me to adjust the handle on my steer if need be. I may need to let the rope slide a little to keep a steer on his feet or if the situation requires me to take a little speed away from a hard-running steer. In any situation, I want to make sure I have control over my dally and the steer. I often put mule hide around my saddle horn before I put any rubber on it to protect it in case I do burn through all the rubber in a run. I always wrap my saddle horn as tight as I can stretch the rubber around it. Keep an eye on your saddle horn and trim the frays off with a knife. If you are having to trim an excessive amount of frays, it may be time to rewrap the entire saddle horn. Consistency in our runs comes from repetition and begins before we nod our heads. We need to be in an athletic position from the start to allow us to execute our fundamentals as fast as possible. Holding onto the saddle horn until we call for our steer can help us be more sturdy and balanced in our bodies when our horse leaves the box. If the seat in your saddle is too big, this is even more important. If we don’t hang onto the horn (especially on a horse that leaves the box like a rocket), our weight can get rocked back out of sync, and we can end up pulling on the reins for balance. This sends the wrong message to our horse and can cause us to be late out of the box. ROPING TIPS: EQUIPMENT