When you rodeo and team rope for a living and your horse is the greatest asset to your game, fitting the bridle to your horse and training him so you’ve got control and consistency, and your horse operates comfortably, is of the utmost importance. I left home when I was 16 and started team roping for a living. I left with two bridles that my stepdad let me take. At first, I didn’t really realize how big a deal the right bit, proper horsemanship and training were. I just put it in my horse’s mouth. Both horses I had at that time were cold-jawed and hard-mouthed. I didn’t really pay any attention to the importance of bridles and bits and training, and I didn’t have much horsemanship knowledge until I started getting other horses and realizing that there’s actually something to the relationship between the bit and a horse’s mouth. Today I use a variety of bits, including Paul Petska and Tom Balding bits.
