The Head Horse Part 1
by George Aros
George Aros is a 4
time NFR Team Roping Qualifier and NFR Champion. He is
the trainer of the Winning Edge Rope Horse Training
Video series. George is a successful roping producer
from Picacho, Arizona and is the producer of the “Mike
Cervi Memorial Pro Classic” held annually in Tucson,
Arizona.
Properly warming a horse up before using him is perhaps the most neglected thing a roper does. Let’s break down what a head horse is going to do during a run. First, he is going to walk in the box turn around and back in the corner. He will be expected to stand quietly. From that point he will lean on the reins just enough that when released he blasts from the corner to the steer at full speed. If the steer cuts to the left or right the horse will have to instantly move over one way or the other. After the catch he will be expected to pull-up, collect himself, take hold of the steer, move over to the left as he pulls the steer, plant his front feet and swing his body to the right as he backs into the rope for the face up. A lot of quick action! When I warm up my horse, I take all this into consideration. It’s not just enough to gallop a little to loosen his muscles. Some horses need a lot of galloping to knock the edge off of them so that they will stand quietly in the box. I also gallop in both leads asking for accelerations as I change them. This loosens the horse up and aids in the blast to the steer, collection, and ease in widening if a steer goes left, or go after him if he goes right. At the end of my gallop I will pull my horse up to a sliding stop. I will gather my reins until my horse is backing freely. I will bend his neck to the right moving his body with my right foot then the same to the left until I am satisfied he is limber on both sides. It is important that our horse move off our legs after the catch, when leading the steer across the pen and to signal our face up.
Thank you for your time and I hope these tips will help prepare your horse better for your next run.
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