Joseph Harrison: Bringing Young Horses Into the Roping Program
13m
Joseph Harrison starts this practice session on Ozzy, registered as Ozzy’s Crazy Train. The four-year-old gelding is by Stevie Rey Von. Harrison typically gets his horses around three years old with the goal of having them ready to show by four, and he credits the colt starter for putting a strong foundation on Ozzy. Because the horse is already so broke, Harrison says transitioning him into roping is much easier. Harrison then gets on Seven S Kinda Sweet, a six-year-old mare by Kit Kat Sugar that they call Bobby Socks. He explains that the mare prefers to work without a tiedown and talks about paying attention to what works best for each individual horse. Before getting off a horse, Harrison wants to make sure he has made at least one or two runs where he feels like he accomplished what he needed to. He also emphasizes the importance of not picking a fight with his horses, especially before taking them somewhere. His goal is to keep the experience positive and leave the horse feeling confident about its job. Harrison finishes the practice session on Louis, another four-year-old horse.