The WRANGLER Horse and Rodeo News is an equine and rodeo publication with circulation in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Utah and Idaho.
Issue link: http://thewrangler.uberflip.com/i/1528209
September, 2024 • The WRANGLER • 7 maintain them. Calves are not all the same and when you feed 20 or 30 in a pen, some get more feed than others. That results in one of the facts of rodeo – the luck of the draw. Hali still has some pain and problems with her foot that limits what she can do. We talked about the need to build her upper body strength to compensate for the weakness in her leg and the need to work on her balance. She protects that foot, and it has her off balance as she comes across the line which is crucial when you need to rope in the second or third jump. Over the last month we've had a lot of headers at the house. Lots of drills before lunch and roping steers and video in the afternoon. We went to the All-Star finals and in the #16 and #15 they had an old USTRC barrier and steers were fresh and ran super hard. Gabe got his first dose of running wide open and having the steers duck left if his heeler got there first; and if he got there first, they would duck right. It showed us we have a lot to work on because that happens a lot in the Open ropings. Once the barrier was shortened to a world series start, I thought he headed good. We have a long way to go but if he can learn to head correctly, he can control his future. While we were at the rodeos, he got a lot of comments from the guys about him heading and not heeling. The majority of headers out there were heelers to begin with. To head successfully at the rodeos, it takes horsepower, understanding the different set ups, and keeping your horses working. We'll see how he progresses and whether he chooses to head or heel. I was also asked what I was going to do when Gabe turns 18. I quit rodeoing to raise my kids and help them with their life choices. I'm fortunate they chose roping because it's something I understand and know what they need to learn to be able to succeed. I never made them rope; however, I would bribe them with rewards for catching. The rewards usually consisted of a movie, where we ate dinner, or any activity they wanted to do. Yesterday my girls had a scary incident happen to them while driving to Hermiston, OR. If this would have happened in a more mountainous area, I'm not sure they would be here today. While driving they blew a belt off the Ford truck, losing their power steering and brakes. The truck kept running so they had trailer brakes to stop the rig. Jennifer said it was like driving an old tractor without power steering. Last night I had a few nightmares where I drove off a cliff. I promise we're going to start changing the belts regularly. Another thing to consider if you travel a lot is changing your wheel bearings when you get the chance. It doesn't cost that much and when they go out, you're stranded. Alicia Werner (307) 262-3554