Heeling Horsemanship
Discover the art of training and fine-tuning heel horses with legendary coaches like Clay O’Brien Cooper and Patrick Smith. Our videos provide insights into selecting, conditioning, and refining heel horses for precision and reliability in roping runs. Learn from the best in the business to ensure your heel horse is a valuable asset in your team roping endeavors.
-
Breakawaying Fundamentals on a Heel Horse Prospect
On heel horse prospects, breakaway roping teaches them to focus in and go find the cow. In this video, Miles Baker explains the benefits of breakaway roping on a heel horse prospect to teach them the fundamentals of tracking down a cow.
-
Heel Shot Strategies
-
Futurity Prep on a 5-Year-Old with Trey Yates
In this practice session, Trey Yates talks through his runs on a 5-year-old gelding as he prepares for a futurity and the AQHA World Show.
-
Teaching a Pattern in a Young Heel Horse
The biggest thing with building a great horse is asking for pressure than slowing the horse back down. Kirby Blankenship talks about how he puts confidence and calmness in young heel horses.
-
When to Throw Fast on a Young Heel Horse and When to Track Over
Consistency is key in all horse training, but taking the same shot over and over again on a young horse can cause problems, too. Here's how Brazile balances knowing when to throw fast and when to track over on a young horse.
-
Horsemanship Mistakes: Horses Breaking Wide
Trevor Brazile analyzes why heel horses and calf horses break wide, and what ropers do incorrectly to fix that. He emphasizes that every moment in the saddle is time that you are teaching your horses something, whether it is right or wrong.
-
What to Do When Your Header Pulls Up Mid-Run
-
Heeling Horsemanship
Patrick Smith knows that keeping your horses working great is key to winning gold buckles. In this video, he discusses practice pen drills and training techniques that he uses to keep his horses working. Watch this clip from the Legend film.
-
When a Steer Goes Right
If a steer steps right, you've got to keep your focus and your distance to help the run come together. Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves talk about what lets them bring a run together best when a steer isn't down the middle.
-
Is Your Horse Making It Hard to See the Feet?
Is your horse making your heel shot harder thanks to where he carries his head? Here's how to tell and how to fix it.
-
Blending Styles in a Partnership
Headers and heelers spend time figuring out their run, and sometimes they make adjustments on the fly. Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker talk through how those adjustments are made mid-run, and who needs to make those adjustments.
-
Allowing Your Horse to Lock on and Relax
Wesley Thorp talks through some runs on a young horse and how he expects him to track across the pen.
-
Handling a Nervous Horse
Plenty of head horses get on the muscle when their nerves get the best of them. Dustin Egusquiza has learned the horsemanship necessary to get by one. In this video, he explains what he does and why.
-
Riding A Chargy Horse
-
Teaching Patience in a Heel Horse
As Tyler Merrill prepares for the American Rope Horse Futurity Association's World Championships, he focuses on teaching his young horses patience.
-
When a Steer Comes Left
How should you react as a team when a steer steps into the head horse? Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves talk about their reactions—both mental and physical—to still put a run together.
-
Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale Prep: Heeling Strategy
How should you approach your heeling position and strategy at the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale? Clay O'Brien Cooper gives his advice.
-
Yes, Your Heel Horse Needs to Break at the Poll. Here's How.
How your heel horse responds to pressure from the bridle reins can make or break your run. In this video, Clay O'Brien Cooper talks through how he teaches his heel horses to break at the poll and how that affects the rest of his run.
-
Patrick Smith Businessman's Heeling and Horsemanship Tune-Up
Two-time World Champion Patrick Smith sold a horse to a successful businessman a few years back, and in this video, Smith talks him through a tune-up in his roping and his horsemanship.
-
Quartering and How to Stop It
Shoulder, nose and rib cage control is the best way to keep a heel horse from quartering. Patrick Smith explains how to work on your horsemanship to prevent and fix quartering.
-
Seeing the Feet: Slow-Motion, Head-Cam Heeling View
Patrick Smith talks through a run while wearing a head-cam, giving ropers a step-by-step look at position, timing and spacing.
-
Keeping Your Heel Horse Listening to Your Left Hand
Your heel horse needs to listen and respond to your left hand throughout the run, but particularly through the turn. NFR heeler Billie Jack Saebens talks about how and why you can make this happen.
-
The Haze: How World Series Heelers Can Help Their Headers
Heelers can help their headers by hazing the steer in the left lead or straight to save time, especially in the South Point Hotel's Equestrian Center for the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale.
-
Building a Solid Foundation in Your Rope Horses
Rope horses should flex and respond to leg pressure and bridle pressure, and they learn from pressure and release. Lane Ivy talks about how to reinforce cues in young horses to set them up for success.