by Edna Hancock
My kids are an interesting bunch. They are all very talented but most of them are also very lazy. I really have a hard time motivating them to practice consistently. Sure most of them will practice real hard if a big rodeo or finals is coming up. I just don’t think that works really well as opposed to a consistent practice all week/month/year long.
My kids are an interesting bunch. They are all very talented but most of them are also very lazy. I really have a hard time motivating them to practice consistently. Sure most of them will practice real hard if a big rodeo or finals is coming up. I just don’t think that works really well as opposed to a consistent practice all week/month/year long.
Shane my 13 yr old is the easiest to get to practice and it is much easier to motivate then the others. It may be that he really LOVES rodeo. We have always said that he was born 100 years too late. Anyway with Shane (and all the kids really) we have a practice grid that includes all of his rodeo events broken down into areas and the horses that he rides in each one. It also includes each day of the month and rodeos that are coming up. Since he participates in 3 different rodeo associations, he has a lot of different events that he does. If you can see the upcoming rodeo and know what events are coming up, he can then practice for those events harder. 
Here is an example of what I mean. Calf roping could be broken down into the following areas:
1. Rope the sparky (we have a Sparky tie down machine that I pull behind our 4 wheeler)
2. Rope calves
3. Tie the sparky
4. Tie the calves
5. Run down rope and throw the calves
6. Getting off the horse
7. Score calves
8. Ground rope
9. Work the barrier
10. Ride (Since he rides our horse Holly in these events the exercise of the horse, ride and lunge would also be included in that event)
11. Lunge
We don’t practice everything every day. That would become an unbearable practice. We would be out there for 8 to 9 hours daily with the 9 events he does between the three associations. He will ground rope and tie our dummies daily for a few minutes each day. He will ride the horse daily to condition her. He will practice other items every other day depending on what he needs the work on. He is really good on getting off the horse so we don’t practice that as often.
I have also found that a lot of the main ideas behind each event have the same theory and that if you practice ground roping for breakaway with a little bit of a change it also works for team roping. Shane just needs to know what the change is and do it consistently and be aware of what he is practicing for.
After the rodeo is over you can evaluate what he did right and wrong then change the practice schedule to match his weaknesses and strengths. My experience is that if he tries to practice perfect and follow the schedule he usually does well
Here is an example of what I mean. Calf roping could be broken down into the following areas:
1. Rope the sparky (we have a Sparky tie down machine that I pull behind our 4 wheeler)
2. Rope calves
3. Tie the sparky
4. Tie the calves
5. Run down rope and throw the calves
6. Getting off the horse
7. Score calves
8. Ground rope
9. Work the barrier
10. Ride (Since he rides our horse Holly in these events the exercise of the horse, ride and lunge would also be included in that event)
11. Lunge
We don’t practice everything every day. That would become an unbearable practice. We would be out there for 8 to 9 hours daily with the 9 events he does between the three associations. He will ground rope and tie our dummies daily for a few minutes each day. He will ride the horse daily to condition her. He will practice other items every other day depending on what he needs the work on. He is really good on getting off the horse so we don’t practice that as often.
I have also found that a lot of the main ideas behind each event have the same theory and that if you practice ground roping for breakaway with a little bit of a change it also works for team roping. Shane just needs to know what the change is and do it consistently and be aware of what he is practicing for.
After the rodeo is over you can evaluate what he did right and wrong then change the practice schedule to match his weaknesses and strengths. My experience is that if he tries to practice perfect and follow the schedule he usually does well
These are some really great ideas. I also have a hard time with my kids motivating them to practice but I do think it would be a lot easier if we had the place and equipment to practice even when the weather is bad.
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