If you rope or rodeo, your horse is one of your biggest assets. But if there’s
any injury bothering him, he’s not going to give you 110 percent. The good team roping and rodeo
horses are few and far between, so you need to take care of them. Every horse is
a little different in his maintenance needs. For example, different horses need
to be shod at different intervals. Problem horses need to be shod more often,
because as the foot grows the angle changes and can cause lameness. Each heading and heeling horse
is different, just like every person is different. Some horses do better on
certain diets, some need more riding than others or more steers scored, etc…
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Most of us aren’t really
educated on what a good horseshoeing job is. When we’re traveling, we
usually
ask around for who the best guy is in each area. It’s so
important to find a
good horseshoer, because if your horse is lame it
can throw your whole program
into a tailspin.
You need to make sure your horse has all his shots, so he’s vaccinated
against
all possible diseases. Enough things can go wrong that are
beyond your control.
Don’t lose a horse over something that is
preventable.
 You need to stay current on your Coggins and health papers, so you don’t have
any troubles in your travels. If you’re out on the road and don’t have the
paperwork on your horses, things can get sticky. Don’t let some silly holdup
keep your horse in the trailer longer than is absolutely necessary.
I worm my
horses a couple times a year. I want my horse to feel his best and look his
best. A horse will tell you if he isn’t feeling good. In the springtime, for
example, his coat won’t be as shiny when he’s losing his hair if he doesn’t feel
good.
I worm my horses a couple times a year. I want my horse to feel his best and
look his best. A horse will tell you if he isn’t feeling good. In the
springtime, for example, his coat won’t be as shiny when he’s losing his hair if
he doesn’t feel good. |
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Everyone wants his horse to look good. And that means good
nutrition and
knowing your horse and his individual needs. Younger
horses can’t always stand
prosperity like an older horse can. Too much
grain or a supplement might make a
younger one hyper, whereas a veteran
might be a lot better off with that extra
energy.
It takes more to
maintain an older horse. You’re going to practice on him
less,
but he might need some type of supplement to keep him going.
 
Now that roping is so
competitive, everyone’s trying every which way to gain an advantage. These days,
we have everything from horse chiropractors to horse psychics. Everyone’s
looking for that edge. Some of the new stuff that comes along is legit. Other
stuff is hokey. Whether it’s the latest supplements, magnets, new types of shoes
and saddle pads or whatever, remember that sometimes the best thing is getting
back to basics. If it sounds crazy, maybe it is. Your horse will tell you what
works and what doesn’t.
Now that roping is so competitive, everyone’s trying
every which way to gain an advantage. These days, we have everything from horse
chiropractors to horse psychics. Everyone’s looking for that edge. Some of the
new stuff that comes along is legit. Other stuff is hokey. Whether it’s the
latest supplements, magnets, new types of shoes and saddle pads or whatever,
remember that sometimes the best thing is getting back to basics. If it sounds
crazy, maybe it is. Your horse will tell you what works and what doesn’t.
You need to stay up with your horse’s teeth and have them floated when need be.
I like to get my horse’s teeth checked and worked on once a year as part of his
routine maintenance program. If it’s been too long, my horse might tip me off by
fighting the bit because he’s uncomfortable.
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You can look for various signs of problems in your horse. If one starts
fighting his head, he could be having teeth problems. He’ll also let
you know if
his back is hurting from pads or a saddle that don’t fit.
Bad behavior sometimes
has physical roots. At least consider some of
those things before you go
straight to reprimanding your horse and
assuming that he just doesn’t want to
work the way you want him
to.
Using the right equipment for each horse is important also, just like
catering
to each horse’s dietary needs is key. Sometimes, that changes
over time, so you
need to stay up on what works best for your horse
today.
 
Different guys have different theories when it comes to horses. It really
just
depends on the individual horse. Generally, the younger a horse,
the more runs
he can take. What really hurts a horse is the consecutive
runs. You can make
more runs on a horse if you space it out over the
course of a day. If you’re in
a big hurry, your horse suffers the
consequences. When a horse gets physically
exhausted, he’ll try to find
a way to let you know he’s not going to do it
anymore. You can spot a
horse that loves his job, just like you can see when one
hates it. It’s
just like anything else in life. You get so much more out of the
ones
who love it.
It’s important to keep a horse in shape, but there’s a
difference between
keeping one in shape by roping on him and getting
him legged up before you go
rope. I like to ride my horses outside the
arena, and don’t just make runs on
them. I make five runs max on an
older horse who knows what he’s doing. The rest
is just conditioning.
If a horse doesn’t need any runs that day, maybe I’ll just
lope a few
circles while getting the feel of some new ropes.
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