Still Catching Up: Cow, Bird, and Cat Herding?

Two days before Christmas I decided to try out one of my gifts from last year! Finally! My sister got me one of those neat steer heads so I could practice my rope tossing. For whatever reason, it took me a long time to get a bale bag and actually haul out the rope. I decided to introduce Mercy (and Star, kinda) to the sound of the rope hitting the plastic and canvas. I have thrown a rope off of Mercy before, while on and off her, but never at anything. Of course she could care less and just wanted to touch the steer head and continue eating her hay.

So I pulled on the rope and moved it in her direction. She stood her ground and seems very interested. Star, on the other hand, well, you can see her reaction... right before she bolted out of her stall and into her run.

I pulled it a little closer...

I hauled her out of her stall, de-cloaked her, groomed her up, and headed up to the trailer to saddle up. When I was warming her up and checking her responses to aids while neck reining, Chai decided to come say hi.

I actually thought she might have jumped up into the saddle with me she was that excited to see me! Could have been an interesting deal if Mercy wasn't OK with that...

No cat herding today. Only cows and birds for now, lol! Although, Chai does kind of look like a cow now that I think about it. Same blotchy black and white markings and those little devil horns I can see on her most days. Yup. Definitely part cow. *shrugs*

After that diversion, we got back to work. I practiced throwing the rope away from us, at nothing in particular, just to make sure we were still good with the basics. Then I moved on to twirling the rope over my head and Mercy. Again nothing. So I let it slip a few times and let it smack her in the face, on the rump, under her tail, to see if I could get a reaction. Nope. Nothing. We were still at a stand still, but every little experience counts, so it was a great start.

When I felt we were good enough to catch something, I positioned her behind the steer. Again, at a stand still. I took one shot and missed. She yawned. Thanks Mercy. I coiled my rope back up and tried again. This time I got one horn. Perfect! I got it tight, held on to the rope and asked Mercy to back a step. She complied and the steer moved to the right a little bit as we backed. And then the rope slipped off and we came to a stop ourselves. Perfect.

Still looking bored, I made Mercy move off to the left as we dragged the rope. I coiled it up as we made our way back to the steer. This time I *actually* made a full shot and got the whole head. Fine with me! I once again asked her to back and she got a little antsy and jigged sideways into the rope. I corrected her quickly and again asked her to back, which she did. That's where I dropped the rope in the ground, dismounted, and loosened her cinch. I would call that a great introduction to roping.

Unfortunately, I don't know that much about roping, so that is where I will probably leave it until I can get some pro help. I also decided that day that I don't know if roping is going to ever be my thing. I like working cows, not roping them. But I won't give up training Mercy the basics. I will continue tossing the rope and maybe one day I will find an old tire along the road and ask her to drag it. Maybe that will lead to me dallying off on my saddle. Who knows?!

ROPIN'!

Since Star's been ill (some virus thing...) I have been creative about what to do with Mercy. On Tuesday, I took Mercy out on her second 'alone' trail ride. I once again let her pick the path and she ended up taking me to the creek trail. She REALLY wanted to go down the the creek on this trail, but the slopes down there are sudden and once she gets into the creek, the brush makes it hard to turn around. We finally broke onto the service rode where we met a couple with their beagle. We see them on the trail all the time, so it was a quick hello and then into the creek! Mercy wasn't as interested in the water as she usually is, so we headed on back... I didn't want to stress Star out too much and get her even more sick. Mercy wanted to move out quite fast, but she slowed when I asked.

Then on Wednesday I went over to my friend's place to ride. We had a blast! Again we worked on loping mainly and that alone has improved so much! I am able to get her loping to the left on a loose rein and to the right after a little shoulder control exercises. We ended the hot evening by setting up some ground poles (well, actually they were PVC poles which she usually used for pole bending practice) and jogged over those. The first time over she blew right over them, landing on every single one. I changed plans by backing her through and side passing instead, to increase her awareness of them. It seemed to work! The next time over she stepped over each one beautifully!

Staring at the weeds in the nice dust free sand:

Once we got home, we let the girls out back to enjoy the evening:

The next day, I rode Mercy at home. Before I could even get on Mercy, Star pulled back on her leadrope pretty hard. I have been tying her to the barn to stand while I ride and usually she moves around and frets for a little bit, but nothing bad. This day she had something up her booty. I should have tied her and then asked her to move around to feel the end of the lead like I usually do, but I have done this many times now...I thought we had something going. Thank goodness the bolt held. How I love lifelong pullbackers! >:( NOT! Once I saddled up, I started out just asking Mercy to collect at the walk and follow my reins, legs, and seat while turning either sharply or gradually. We did have one issue come up, which I have actually ignored until now. Mercy dives into our circle (only at home, of course) so I applied Mugwump's 'Follow your nose' lesson to our ride. When she cut in many feet, I would haul her around and back onto our path. It only took 3 times for her to get the point. From their I worked on her stop and haunch turns. Waiting for her to give to the pressure cues:

Resting after a nice collected jog:

I really didn't want to lope her at our place yesterday. It is just so rocky and her feet get really banged up if we ride too much. So I pulled out my XXX-soft rope. I have been exposing Mercy to the rope every now and then for quite a while. On Tuesday, I stood next to her, on her right side, and practiced throwing the rope away from us. She didn't flinch once. I even pulled out a cone and roped it. I then walked backwards, Mercy followed at my shoulder, and we dragged it toward us! She looked at me with a bored expression when we were done moving. So, when I was riding yesterday I grabbed my rope again. She, again, could care less. Sweet.

I walked her around while slapping the rope on my thigh to make sure I could steer, neck rein, and hold onto the rope (which is too long for my small hands. Do you know how long a real roper's rope is?). Once I knew I could drop the rope in an emergency, I lined Mercy up to face one of my barrels with a cone on it. I swung the rope over us and let it loose. I got the cone!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I practice, but I am not confident enough to actually hit it on the first swing, lol! I asked Mercy to move around so she could feel the taught rope hit her shoulders and nose. Then I asked her to back. We pulled the cone off the barrel and the rope slid off, just what I wanted it to do. btw, I never wrapped the rope on the horn, I just held it against my leg to simulate it. That's where we stopped for the evening. I wish I was more skilled with the rope because I truly believe roping could be Mercy's specialty. Of course, no pictures, but I won't forget next time.