Heeling Horsemanship
Elevate your roping skills with the "Heeling Horsemanship" series, featuring insights from renowned coaches Clay O’Brien Cooper and Patrick Smith. This collection focuses on the essential techniques for selecting, conditioning, and refining heel horses, ensuring they are reliable assets in team roping. Learn from the best in the business to enhance your precision and performance in the arena. Unlock the secrets of effective heeling and strengthen your partnership with your horse through expert guidance.
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Developing Collection Through the Run
On this Metallic Cat mare, Dakota Kirchenschlager addresses her tendency to get strung out through the corner and shows how keeping her framed up can help her develop a better stop.
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Is There a Such Thing As Too Much Slide?
Is there such a thing as too much slide? Trevor Brazile says 'Nah.' Here's why.
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Benefits of Riding a Cowboy-Type Horse
Trevor Brazile has a tough horse in the barn that’s broke to death and makes his job fun. He talks about why here.
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Stirrup Length and Body Position
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Physically Preparing Different Styles of Horses
Reiners, cutters, cow horses and running bred horses all require different workout regimens and warm-ups. Here is how Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker prepare each different type of horse for competition.
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World Series Starts vs. Rodeo Starts
The secret to the start wherever you are is keeping your horse listening to you rather than the bang of the gate or the movement of the steer.
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Green Head & Heel Horse Training Runs
Dakota Kirchenschlager and Brad Lund talk ropers through an entire practice session on green horses, including addressing tightness in a heel horse and overbridling in an ex-reiner on the head side.
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Elbow, Rein and Coil Control
The way you hold your coils and your reins affects your horsemanship as much as it affects your roping. Feeding with your rein-hand, improper coil position and improper elbow control all can be detrimental to your horsemanship and your roping. The 26-time World Champion Trevor Brazile explains why.
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Dismounting at the End of a Run
Joseph Harrison helps his heel horses find release at the end of a run by dismounting in the arena at the end of his last run. In this video, he explains his theory behind it.
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Fine-Tuning Aggressive, Green Horses
Jake Barnes and Clay O'Brien Cooper ride almost-ready-to-rodeo green horses through a windy practice session.
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Maintaining Consistent Speed Through the Run
Aaron Tsinigine talks to a group of Navajo Nation ropers about keeping your horse consistent down the pen and through the corner.
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Warm Your Horse Up Correctly
Roping can be made a lot easier by warming your horse up correctly. Kevin Stewart discusses how to keep horses soft and relaxed during a warm up to get them to respond well when they run steers.
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Freeing Up Your Horse
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Letting Your Heel Horse Lock On
Ryan Motes hones in on a tiny detail in a heeler's horsemanship and rope handling that can help his horse stop better and make the heeler's job even easier.
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Getting Along with Hotter Heel Horses
Every horse is different, and some horses are stronger and hotter than others. Hunter Koch talks about how he gets along with a heel horse with a lot of run and a lot of energy.
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The 90 Degree Angle
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Developing All-Around Horses
Justin Briggs talks about the typical program at Briggs Performance Horses for developing solid all-around horses through barrel, cow and break-a-way roping work.
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How To Pick Up Your Timing Faster [CC]
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How To Avoid Getting Into Position Late [CC]
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Proper Footwork - Heeling
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How To Attract Better Headers [CC]
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Patience in a Heel Horse
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Slowing Down a Chargy Heel Horse
Using a dummy to keep a heel horse listening is a great exercise, especially after asking a green horse to step up in the jackpot or rodeo arena.
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Backing a Horse Off the Bridle
Too much run and try in your heel horse? Clay O'Brien Cooper talks about how he addresses that challenge and how he isolates the problem and makes a correction and a change.