Evaluating Horses, Fresh Cattle, and Heeling Lines
Barnes & Cooper: Inside the Practice Pen
•
15m
Team roping greats Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper take a deep dive into evaluating horses, managing fresh muley calves, and building timing as both a header and a heeler. This practice session blends practical horse training tips with mental strategies for improving consistency.
In this video, they explain:
- How to trust rhythm and timing, even when cattle look chaotic
- Techniques to free up tight horses and use forward/backward work in the box
- The importance of mixing slow, medium, and fast cattle to keep horses balanced
- Heeling perspective: why you don’t always need to 'see the feet' to set up a great shot
- Using practice pens to evaluate horse progress run by run
- Why studying video, self-analysis, and adapting styles are key to long-term success
Part of the Barnes & Cooper: Inside the Practice Pen series, this episode shows how two Hall of Fame cowboys break down their runs, manage horse quirks, and apply decades of roping knowledge to every steer.
Up Next in Barnes & Cooper: Inside the Practice Pen
-
Horse Quirks, Scoring, and Muley Prac...
Jake Barnes and Clay Cooper share stories of quirky horses, the importance of scoring, and why practicing on muley cattle sharpens ropers of all levels.
They explain:
- How to handle horses with unique quirks and personalities
- Scoring tips and the cues that make a head horse leave the box
... -
Jake Barnes on Horsepower, Hard Work,...
In this conversation, Jake Barnes shares his honest take on investing in good horses and building a career through consistency, not risk. He explains why every successful roper credits their horse, how he’s always taken a conservative approach to buying and training, and what it means to make the...
-
Clay O’Brien Cooper on Watching Today...
In this conversation, Clay O’Brien Cooper shares how he still keeps up with today’s team roping scene—watching the winter rodeos, studying runs, and following which teams are gaining momentum through the season.
Clay explains why he enjoys watching how the rodeos shape up, evaluating cattle, an...
