Giving the steer’s head back is a concept we throw around a lot, and I want to make sure ropers know what it means and how it’s affecting how much you win. Plus, I’m going to tag Jade Corkill in here at the end for his take on the whole situation, because I know he’s studied it.
What does “giving the steer his head back” mean?
Your heeler has usually thrown his rope, and you start to face, or your horse gets stiff before the face, or you face down the arena enough. The heeler is pulling his slack, and the steer is in tow, but then the steer’s shoulders switch past the hips as the horse faces.
Why is it a problem?
The steers change direction mid-throw or mid-dally. A header lets his shoulder go down the arena, and that changes the way your heeler’s loop is angled—it makes people slip legs bad. When you rope them with an unbalanced loop, you have to stay at the top longer because 70% of your rope is to the right of the steer.
How to prevent it
I keep my head horse pulling through by not letting the ribs get stiff before they face. I want to keep their front end keep right on the rope when the butt comes around. If they get stiff and everything caves down the arena as they face, you’ll make your heeler look like he roped a leg, but really, you caused him to slip a leg. A lot of horses come clean at the end of the face, but the precursor to that is the head horses’ shoulders come down the arena before their hips finish. It takes a strong, fluid horse to send his hips by. That’s why we like to clear their hips and not bring anything over the front.
[[Jade Corkill’s perspective]]
When the heel loop comes in, the right hind foot being in the lead keeps the weight of the rope—because the heaviest part of the reps the hondo—so when the hondo has some foundation to stabilize the loop and the tip is going from top to bottom through the left leg to come back around when the left leg takes the lead and then pushes it back to where there’s nothing holding up the hondo, the weight drops it and then just opens back up and shoots it back around off the feet. Any momentum—even if the steer even comes back into a little bit with the right foot in the lead, and then your moment pushes the rope off the legs with nothing holding it up, it just drops off.
That’s what makes heelers miss their dallies, too—letting the steer go the other way. You’re pulling against a steer to dally, but when that steer drifts to the right down the arena, that takes you to the right side of the saddle horn. If they keep coming back up the arena, it keeps it down your horse’s neck and on the left side of the saddle horn.
—TRJ—
More from Trevor:
- Keeping a Steer’s Head in the Face
What does ‘giving a steer’s head back’ mean, and why are your heelers missing so much? - The Rope Horse Industry Needs More Colt Starters
The rope horse industry needs people to ride 2-year-olds to make better end products. - Next Generation Perspective
“To be an all-around guy, at your core, you have to value being a cowboy more than being a whatever-event-you-want-to-put-in-that-space.” - Trevor Brazile’s Short-Round Mental Hacks
Congrats, you made the short round! Now what? Trevor Brazile talks competition mentality. - 8 Hard-Learned Breeding Lessons
Dos and don’ts of the breeding game.
