[chika1235]

ive always been intrested in roping and im going to start lessons soon and i was wondering what do i need to do to get my horse ready to be roped off? can any of you give me some more info on the roping events in rodeo? i might do team roping but i dont really know anything about it but the absolute basics. also how tall are the average roping horses? my quarter horse is about 15 hh and hes just 1. would he be o.k. for roping?thnx a lot!!!

 

[rodeogirl309]

He's a good size. Probably too small to be a header. Nice sized heeler though.
Get him used to ropes on the ground, on top of him, swinging around his head, dragging behind him, ect. Something you can do at home is take a heavyish log (not branch,LOG) and tie a rope around it. Then when you ride him, dally the other end of the rope around your saddle horn and just walk and drag it. It will get him used to pulling something.

 

[chika1235]

thanks!!! i was scared to death that he mightve been too big for roping!

 

[smrobs]

Yep, what rodeogirl said. Did I understand you right that he is only a yearling and he is 15 hh? Almost any size of horse will be a decent roping horse if they have the speed and heart to do it. One thing that you have to do before you ever drag anything off of him though is have him VERY responsive to neck reins and leg cues. I have seen some very bad wrecks where the horse freaked out and ignored cues and the rider got pinned underneath the rope because the horse turned full circle. Don't rush him, just take your time and if for one instant, he starts to freak, stop and go back to the beginning. Logging is a wonderful way to teach a young horse to lean into the breast collar and pull. I use a tractor tire for mine.

 

[rodeogirl309]

Nice smrobs..Never even thought of a tire

 

[Qtswede]

That's how my horses are started too - only they ground drive and pull a tire as a yearling. I don't think they hardly ever are used for ropers or cowhorses at all by most of their new owners, but, it sure doesn't hurt them!

 

[chika1235]

thanks im going to try to find a log big enough to have him drag it. im going to be working on ground driving tommorow. so hopefully ill have him dragging a log by next month.

 

[kevinshorses]

If your horse is only a yearling don't worry about dragging anything with him until he is very broke. You can't succesfully team rope on a half broke horse. You see them at every roping but they just pay the winner over and over again.

Buy a roping dummy and learn how to rope the dummy. Rope it over and over again untill you can rope it 50 times without missing. Send your horse to a good rope horse trainer after he is broke and about 3-4 years old.