Team Roping?

Has anyone ever done team roping with a draft horse? Specifically, a percheron? I'd like to get into it, but I don't know if my horse can do it. I've swung a rope off of her a few times, and she was fine, but I just don't know if she has the speed.

This would be a long time off, because we're still working on getting her to not be gate sour and to canter. But I was just wondering, because I can find videos of percherons doing pretty much every english event/discipline you can think of, but no western events besides reining.

The main problem with trying to team rope off such a large breed is that they don't have the quickness to be a heading horse. That is why QH are so good at it. Perchs don't have the explosive running start that they need to get in front of a steer that comes running out of the chute. With their speed, they would be more suited to heeling; however, due to their height, actually catching the feet is just way too complicated. You have to consider that you are on an animal at least 8 inches taller than most sucessful roping horses and in team roping, speed and angles are key. You could probably just piddle around a little bit but it would be nearly impossible to be competitive on a perch. If you ever decide to rope off yours, I would love to see some video.

Thanks for the info. I talked to a friend of mine, and he has a horse that I can borrow to rope off of at comepetitions and stuff, but I'll still need to use my horse to practice on. That should be interesting. If I actually do it, I'll get pictures, and possibly a video.

Edit: Oh, and I should also add that she's not a pure percheron. She's mixed with something else, maybe thoroughbred? She's about 16.2hh and built like a draft, though.

Okay, I was picturing something more like my boy. Yours is not too tall then, it would just take some practice to get all the angles right. It is all just a matter of speed. Can she get out of the box and up beside the steer in just a couple of strides? And if you head on her, you will have to make sure that your saddle fits perfectly because all that torque on the horn can make for some pretty bad pain with an ill-fitting saddle. If she has a good stop on her, I would imagine that she could do okay heeling. I wish you luck.

Thanks for the info. I just moved her to a roping ranch, hence my sudden interest in roping. I just started learning how to rope on the ground, so we're a long way away from team roping. This is all hypothetical at this point.

She's only been under saddle since January, and she was a full time carriage horse until a month ago. We've just been walking and trotting with a little bit of cantering thrown in a couple of times a week to get her in shape. I should also mention that I ride english, and she doesn't neck rein (yet).

I was talking to a friend of mine about it today, and he doesn't think that I'll be able to head with her, but he said she might be able to heel. I don't have a western saddle (yet), but I'll be sure to find one that fits her.