Personal Narrative: Calf Roping

When I first joined cross country I was not fast nor a runner. I was one of the slowest people on the team, but I wanted to get faster and I was determined to improve. Some days we would do a hills workout and I would get to the top of the longest hill and think, “I could just run back to Armstrong right now and be done”. But then, I thought about how if I did another hill, I would get better and some time during a race when there was a big hill I would look at it like it’s nothing. I could go up the hill easily and pass a couple girls. So I would do another hill. Then the next time we did hills I rememberd how many I did the last time and pushed myself to do one more. Through that cross country showed me that I could be faster and tougher than I thought I was if I put in the effort and want it

Rodeo has been around for several decades and has gradually become very popular around the world. The three events that have been apart of the rodeo since the beginning include saddle bronc, steer roping, and bull riding. Rodeo is a great sport for cowboys and cowgirls to compete in an event that suits their lifestyle. These contests have changed dramatically since the first official rodeo in the late 1800’s. Because the rodeo event was created in 1888, ranchers culture has been brought to the world and created into a world wide sport.

When a calf was sick or injured, it had to be caught and immobilized quickly for treatment. Ranch hands prided themselves on how fast they could rope and tie calves. Soon roping and tying calves became a contestant sport in Rodeo. Still today we rope and doctor (Rodeo 1). Soon steer wrestling also known as “bulldogging” came to rodeo. That started from after roping to doctor things some had to hold the animal down while someone gave it a shot. Now you don't rope in bulldogging you jump onto your steer while running full speed. Lots of people ride American QH’s that are specially trained to do this event (Rodeo

My conclusion is that rodeo is a multiple part sport where you can choose any part you want and you can do almost as many as you want too. Rodeo is not to have fun abusing animals but to have fun with the natural abilities of an animal. Also to be able to see and push the abilities of a trained animal that you trust. So I still think that rodeo is all about the effort that the contests put in and the time. Also, I think that rodeo is also about the loyalty between animal and human. The last thing is that rodeo is also about the nature of an untamed animal and the skill that rider uses to stay on a untamed animal. My last strong concluding statement is that rodeo is a fun sport that is not supposed to be made to torture animals but to have fun

If you wanted a sport that requires an intricate balance of speed, trust, and timing between a horse and rider, you are looking for the sport of barrel racing. Trust and timing are everything in the sport of barrel racing. If you don’t present any confidence or faith in your horse, then consequently, you will be too occupied with worrying about how he will perform, instead of having faith in how you trained him to perform. If you don’t time your moves just right, it could mess up the whole pattern. As the need for a roping horse arose, we decided to buy Preacher, which explains his wide frame, and immense structure. Since we didn’t focus on roping primarily, Preacher’s owner decided it was time to distinguish Preacher’s abilities in barrel racing, so his owner, decided to let another girl ride him. After only a month of training on barrels, Preacher showed a tremendous amount of potential. Since being on the farm for about three years and last year was the first time that he ran around a barrel, and now I was the fortunate one to start riding

Then I remembered, this is what I set out to fix! I refused to let my detrimental thinking get in the way of my improvement, and so, with all the courage I had, I walked into the gym. My first goal was to learn how to properly exercise. Lifting incorrectly could lead to a whole multitude of injuries, for example rounding the back on squats and deadlifts could lead to a herniated disk, or benching without pinching in shoulder blades could lead to a torn rotator cuff. In order to prevent these injuries I started lifting with very light weights. Despite my fear of being judged for lifting so little I knew I had to learn how to lift correctly. So I summoned all the self control I had and for the first month at the gym I made myself learn form. Finally I had all the tools and knowledge I needed to effectively achieve my goal. The only thing left was to create a habit. Up to now the habit was easy, go to the gym, record myself lifting little weights, judge form, go home. Then came the first day of heavy lifting, every weight became a struggle to lift. It was a true test of mental discipline. Not only did I have to maintain proper form, but I also had to

I knew the first couple weeks of practice were going to drag on, but I was ready for whatever workout coach was going to throw at me. Then came meets and the fun really started. Don't get me wrong, I was definitely feeling the nerves, but it didn’t stop me. The first indoor meet was at Buena Vista College and I was in the open 400, the one race I had been training for. I was so anxious to see what my time was going to be that I was shaking. I just kept telling myself, “This is what you worked for. Everything that you have worked for starts showing now.” I ended up getting my PR and winning the race. It was the first of many heart pounding meets. As the season went on, every meet started to count even more and I was getting frustrated because my time wasn’t getting better. After crying to my dad one night after a meet, I realized that what did matter is that I wasn't getting worse either. I was maintaining my time and that counted for something. A couple weeks later I was standing in my blocks at the district meet trying to maintain my nerves. After the hardest 400 of my life, I ended up making it to state and I could not have been

The only team event in the rodeo is team roping. Team roping is a timed event that involves two cowboys. One is known as the header, and the other is known as the heeler (Team Roping). This event was also a task performed by cowboys on the earliest ranches. The cowboys start in the box. "The header is the first one out trying to rope the head as quickly as possible without breaking the barrier. Once the catch is made, the header dallies and turns the steer left." Then the heeler must rope the legs of the steer. "The clock is stopped when there is no slack in both ropes and the horses are facing each other." If the barrier is broken, there is a ten second penalty added to the cowboys' time, and if the heeler only catches one of the steer's legs, there is a five second penalty added (Team Roping). With good aim and a good partner cowboys competing in this event have the opportunity to win lots of cash.

(Transition: Now that you have some understanding about ropes, let’s swing into my next point, which is the event of team roping.) II. Rodeo has many different events, but today I am going to focus on one event, team roping. A. Team roping consists of two competitors, each of them on a horse, and one target, which is the steer. 1.

When I tell people I’ve competed in rodeos, everyone always seems to think of a rodeo with cows and horses. However, when I talk about rodeos I actually mean Lineman Rodeos. Some people have asked me if it has something to do with lineman that play football. Then I have to explain to them that a Lineman is a person that works on the power lines, the overhead or underground lines that supply electricity to homes and businesses then most people understand what kind of Lineman I am. A Lineman Rodeo is a competition that consist of five different events on the top of a 40-foot wood pole ranging from a hurt-man rescue, to events that pertain to doing power line work and the best of all, the egg climb, which is a speed climb from the bottom

I am so upset at myself. I don’t know where my head was. Finally, here I was, with $80 to my name (which is meager compensation for a two-month cattle drive), and then I lose it all gambling. Just one night, and now I am bankrupt all over again. Yesterday was my 22nd birthday, as well as my payday, so I allowed myself a little gambling in Abilene, Kansas, a cow town. But I got so caught up in the action that I couldn’t stop, and pretty soon, I was broke.

When i first started riding dirtbikes at the track my lap time was about three minutes which was okay because i was still adapting to the track and learning how to hit the jumps. I experienced doubt when i cut my lap time to two minutes and fifty seconds i thought to myself i could never go any faster on the tract then i already was going. When i was at the tract doubt made me feel like i was going slower. The next couple days at the track i would get about the same lap times. One day i crashed going on the uphill jump i was trying

Dropping a flag or rifle during a performance, or simply just messing up a little part of a routine never feels good. I felt like a failure. I was disappointed in myself. It does not feel good that I did not catch a toss or that I messed up, but I know that it is not the end of the world. Whenever I do not catch a toss or I make a mistake, it motivates me to commit to practicing even more. Being consistent with my tosses is key. I will be less likely to drop the equipment I am using. Whenever I have the time to, I spend time tossing over and over. I work on the one toss or the one part that needs the most work. Practicing the whole routine is not necessary. It is like when I am learning a new piece on violin. There are some parts where I am fine with and there are the spots that give me trouble. I would not spend my time working on the parts I can do, but on the spots that I am having a hard time with. It does not mean I do not have to practice those parts at all, but just

The beginning of the summer my branding crew and I were pretty busy with branding calves. About the middle of June we started to put up hay. I worked for a neighbor when wheat harvest came around, I ran the grain cart and sometimes the combine.

When I do good ropin it makes me happy because it builds my confidence up saying to myself that I can win every roping, and that I improved a lot from the last day I roped. When I’m roping good I can start to work more on my horse, or other horses that need to be started