Scoring on a New Head Horse
Aaron Tsinigine has found two horses to fill the void left in his rig after Smudge retired earlier in the horse's career than Tsinigine would have liked. Finding a good replacement has come down to figuring out how to score on those new horses, Tsinigine says.
The Feel of Things
Getting used to a new horse all comes down to scoring. It’s about getting the feel of a horse in the corner. Sometimes that can take a week or a month or even longer, and sometimes you never get that feel and the horse isn’t going to work for you.
New Demands
For instance, my yellow horse I rode at the US Finals scored so well when I got him this summer, but he hadn’t been shown roping at the highest level yet. So sometimes he’d move a little bit, and sometimes he’d stand too still. I spent a month getting him to understand what I want. The only horse I’ve ever clicked with really, really fast was my bay, Smudge, who I won the world on in 2015. But even he took about a week.
On the Line
No matter how much time you put on a new horse at home, you won’t know what you’re in for until you put your money down and rope on him in a pressure situation. Then, you’ll be able to tell what sort of funky moves he’s going to make and if you’re about to get smoked by a steer. Until you make a money run, you won’t really know what’s going to happen. n
