January 23, 2021, Volume 16, Issue 3
Hey everyone! Here’s this week’s ranch update.
Morning sunrise
We are continuing our roping practice daily and we are finding more and more ways to get creative with our exercises. Earlier in the week we cut on the cutting flag with our ropes in hand. This simulated running up on a steer with ropes attached. Anyone who knows me knows I enjoy going fast, so I had a blast with this exercise. Not only do you have to be quick physically, but also mentally. With only one hand to keep the horse hooked on to the flag, you have to rely more on proper positioning of your legs and knowing when to reach for a rein with your other hand. It was a great job for both us and our ponies. Later on in the week, we spent a whole morning breaking down each movement in the cow turn. As we each had a session on the flag, the rest of us would study the balance of each foot. This was really cool for me to see how weight distribution changed the cow turns.
After studying the feet, we were able to adjust our dry work to balance our horses to the next level. By watching the patterns in other horses, I was able to imagine what I was feeling my own horse’s feet do underneath me. This helped me quite a bit with a few of my horses and I was able to hook them on to the cutting flag better. I’ve noticed that by understanding where to place my horse’s weight, I have been able to focus more on getting the job done with feel rather than just mechanics.
Looks like Chris is getting used to Montana winters!
In other ranch happenings, our project lists are slowly getting shorter. Trouble also got stuck in a tree the other day, but with some encouragement and patience, he was able to get down on his own. 🙂 He likes to keep us on our toes for sure. The sun is starting to stay out longer each evening, I think we are all looking forward to longer and warmer days.
And so the journey continues!
Maddog
Well, hello there!
Emily provides the horses with their favorite pastime 🙂