Joseph Harrison: Teaching a Horse to Stop and Hold the Steer
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11m
Joseph Harrison starts a practice session on a horse he uses at World Series jackpots, making a few practice runs and working on his own roping. After one run, Harrison points out a mistake he made when he got too focused on roping the neck and let his left hand drop, causing him to dally his reins. He explains why keeping the left hand up is important. Harrison then gets on Sippin Patron, aka Jimmy, a six-year-old horse, and talks through his approach to teaching a horse to take the jerk. His goal is for the horse to eventually want to stop and do its job on its own. After he throws his rope, Harrison lets the horse hang out in the stop and relax for a while. He wants the horse to understand that its job is finished and that it did a good job. He looks for his horses to stay cool, calm and collected no matter where they are in the arena. Harrison also gives credit to the colt starters who help make his job easier by putting a good stop on young horses before they get to him. He explains that he does not have time to ride all of the two-year-olds himself, so having horses that already want to stop is valuable. When he gets one, he likes to see the horse stop on its butt, stay square with its shoulders up and hold the steer.
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