World's greatest Roping - A Crash Course
From Performance Horse Magazine - May 2001
Photos & Story by Suzanne Drnec

Angel Crosthwaite shows you how to put your cow  horse in a "sweet spot" to win a $50,000 paycheck.

While most contestants in the World's Greatest Horseman contest come from a reining or cow horse background, it's that illusive roping phase, called steer stopping, that seems to be the fly in the ointment. With a full 25 percent of the final score derived from the steer stopping, the skill is a necessity. But the great thing is, you don't have to be a NFR-caliber roper to be competitive - and neither does your horse. Proficient will do. You have to be able to land your loop, and your horse has to be cow-savvy enough to put you where you need to be and tough enough to hold its ground when the steer hits the end. If you've got the other elements, it's definitely doable.

In the first two years of the contest, the champion horses got crash courses in steer stopping not long before they were hustled off to Oklahoma to compete. And because the World's Greatest steer stopping is subjectively judged (using a format similar to the 60 to 80 or infinity scoring used in the other phases) there's a lot of theory, a bit of showmanship, and more than a dash of luck involved in scoring high enough to be a contender.

For a crash course of our own, we asked popular California roping trainer Angel Crosthwaite for his advice on steer stopping. According to Crosthwaite, it's simply a matter of teaching a horse to run to the "sweet spot." In the arena, explained Crosthwaite, "the sweet spot is the perfect place to be to rope a steer. It's where I want my horse to run to every time so that I'm in the most advantageous position to catch that steer by both horns, as fast as possible."

Whether it's team roping or steer stopping, Crosthwaite believes that every roper's chances of winning will increase if he understands the mechanics of approaching, finding, and using the sweet spot for consistent runs.

"Consistency of horse and rider is what wins ropings, and what wins the World's Greatest Horseman contest," he observed. "You don't have to be fastest or best in every phase, but you have to be consistent."

Crosthwaite says that before roping in competitions, whether they are timed or judged events, much preparation is needed for both horse and rider to find and use the sweet spot.

"For us to create a great roping horse, I start with a big, slow steer and a rating game," he said. "I'll close off the arena, put my rope on the steer, and then guide my horse to follow wherever it wanders. He can follow it out of the box and walk, trot, or slow lope, depending on what the steer does. He learns to watch the steer, anticipate its movements, and follow with minimal guidance from me.

Crosthwaite also uses his rating game to teach his rope horses to stop deep and hold the steer.

"When I'm following that steer, I dally occasionally - I use a big steer, so my horse feels that weight, and he'll start to understand that he's got to get in the ground to keep that big steer from jerking him around," Crosthwaite said. "That's when you really teach a horse to stop well and stay in the ground at the walk. We can do this all day with a young horse, just tracking that steer around, setting up a dally and stop from time to time, teaching the horse to expect the weight of the steer and to prepare for it by getting, and staying, in the ground."

In addition, the trainer teaches his horse position, or to find the rider's sweet spot, in this slow game.

"Never do I allow my horse to get his nose in front of the steer's hip," Crosthwaite said. "For me, I say nose because that's my sweet spot to deliver a throw, with the horse's nose just on the steer's hip. If I'm too close, I can't make the throw correctly, and if I'm too far away, it's too much of a reach."

He goes on to describe locating that sweet spot.

"Somebody who's 6-foot-4 and has a 38-inch arm reach needs to be back farther from the steer than me, or if he's smaller guy, with say a 32-inch arm, he needs to be a little closer, maybe with his horse's shoulder at the steer's hip," Crosthwaite said. "That's up to the individual to determine with practice, but for me, if my horse's nose is just off the steer's left hip, that enables me to extend my arm for a powerful throw and follow through.

"It's kind of like golf: if you don't follow through with your swing, the ball doesn't go where you want it," Crosthwaite continued, using one of his many analogies. "If you don't follow through with a head catch, then you won't catch."

As in all types of riding, Crosthwaite believes that the rider's body position strongly influences the horse's performance.

"If I stay balanced on my horse throughout the run, and if I don't unintentionally pull on his mouth or spur him, I'll have a cleaner, faster run and a happier horse," he said. "I'll also have a better chance of catching because I can throw a loop with the power of my upper body and the precision of placement with my horse right in the sweet spot."

Crosthwaite also emphasizes that arena roping and ranch roping aren't the same thing. A horse and rider have time and space to handle cattle in the open, but an arena's confines make a steer stopping contest much different than open range experience.

"If you want to be a contender in the pen, you need to practice in the pen," he said. With the World's Greatest Horseman contest in mind, Crosthwaite advised spending extra time training for the steer stopping because it is probably the weakest event for most of the horse and rider
contestants.

#1- The Box

In The Box

"As I approach the box, I look to see where the steer is in the chute. (PHOTO 1) In competition, if my horse gets a little hot, I won't turn him around until I know my steer is ready to go. Any horse will get nervous if he has to stand a long time, especially if he hears lots of banging as the steer moves up into the box.

"For steer stopping, I'll turn around at about a 45-degree angle from the corner of the box. I want to break toward the pin on the barrier rope with my right stirrup off that pin about two feet as I pass it. If my steer breaks and runs slightly right, which he'll tend to do without a heeler, this strategy puts my horse's head running just about a foot off the steer's left hip, which is my sweet spot. The key is to break with my horse positioned where I need him so I don't have to obviously guide him. He's got to stand quietly in the box but be ready to go as soon as I release my hand.

"One of the greatest problems I see with horses in the box is that they've been rushed. People go to a commercial arena, with fast cattle, and they have to take whatever steer is next because they're up. They ride in, turn the horse around and, within three to five seconds, ask for a steer and have the horse go run after it. They come running out of the box with way too much speed for a green horse. From the box to the end of the arena takes maybe seven or eight seconds to run, but a horse can't learn that quick - he needs to learn on slower cattle. Before I ever start roping, I score lots of cattle, meaning I ask for the steer, the gates bang open, but I quietly hold my horse in the box as the steer trots away. The horse learns to wait for my signal, not just rush after every steer.

"For a horse that's been rushed out of the box and gets hot in there, I'll lope a circle, about 30 feet in diameter so the horse is really having to do some work, right in front of the box. When I feel him start to get tired and give, I lope him right in the box and turn around, back him up, and let him breathe. I might let him sit there for a half an hour. Then he starts understanding, 'If I'm good here, I don't have to run around out there. This is my safety zone. ' I've been able to really help some problem horses this way - they understand real quick that the box is a good place to be. They learn to seek the box as a resting point - after they've loped a lot of circles just outside the box, they want in there."

Rider Position in the Box

"I'm sitting relaxed here as I enter the box, with my rope tucked under my arm, ready to swing. (SEE PHOTO 1A) This position transmits no tension to my horse as we wait for our steer to come down the chute. As I turn my horse around in the box, I'll assume my roping position by pushing against the stirrups to stand, moving my legs back, and rising forward in the saddle with my belt buckle toward the saddle horn."

#2- The Intersection

Approaching the Intersection

"As I come out of the box, it's like driving a car and approaching an intersection, which in this case is the sweet spot. Let's say my steer's running 30 miles an hour and my horse is running 35 miles an hour to catch up. I've got to slow the horse ahead of time so I don't miss my intersection with the steer - I've got to go from 35 miles an hour to about 27, and I have to do it without looking like I'm pulling my horse's head off. And I need to be swinging my loop and focusing on my target all at the same time. (PHOTO 2)

"I judge when to leave the box by the steer's body passing the barrier pin. Depending on the cattle, the score line, and so on, I've anticipated that I need to leave the box as the steer's shoulder, ribs, hip, or tail pass the barrier pin. If he breaks slow, I might have to wait for his hips or tail to pass the pin, rather than his ribs as I'd originally planned. Leave too early, and you break the barrier. Leave too late and your horse has to race to catch the steer.

"As I approach the steer, my eyes should be focused on the target - the base of the right horn. I'm swinging my rope, and my left hand starts to work a little to slow the horse's speed into the intersection. In the heat of the battle here, some guys concentrate so much on the catch that they squeeze with their legs and pull on the horse at the same time. That's like driving with your left foot on the brake and your right foot on the gas: the horse can't get you smoothly to the intersection.

"A rope horse's run is like a reiner's rundown to a stop: he has to stay in a straight frame on his left lead. Unlike a cow horse down the fence, my rope horse can't be thinking about accelerating past the steer. A cow horse in steer stopping will tend to bow out to the left, away from the steer, as I approach my sweet spot. I need to use my left leg to keep his rib cage lined up, parallel to the steer, instead of letting him come around as he would for a fence maneuver. And if he stays aggressive, I'll just run up there, release the rope and not even worry about catching, then bring my empty right hand back onto the rein and use both hands to pull that strong horse into the dirt. Once I throw, he needs to be thinking that he's done going forward."

"Don't pull back when the horse leaves the box. Going from a dead stop to Mach 1, if your feet aren't positioned properly, you'll fall back on your cantle and try to haul yourself back forward with your bridle reins. To rope with any kind of success at all, you have to be standing up in your stirrups. (PHOTO 2A) You want your feet behind you, toes pushed out, so when your horse breaks, you just push yourself up on the balls of your feet - a position you assume as you leave the box and keep until you pull your slack."

#3- The Sweet Spot

"As I approach the sweet spot, my left hand controls my horse back. As soon as I get to my sweet spot, with the horse's nose on the steer's left hip, I 'pull the trigger' by releasing my loop. I deliver, pull slack, dally, and help my horse get in the ground. (PHOTO 3) It's all one smooth motion, a predictable rhythm, from the time I leave the box until we stop and face up to the steer. My body keeps the tempo: swing, swing, swing, release, pull, dally, stop.

"Roping is like shooting: you have to be ready, and you have to focus on a target. I see a lot of ropers forget to put their gun up - which means they forget to swing. They carry their rope without swinging, then get to their spot, then start to swing it - they're not ready, and they're already on top of the steer. As soon as you break out of that box, bring your rope up and start swinging - establish that rhythm. The second you reach your sweet spot, you can deliver. The person that gets a steer roped before the halfway point of the arena impresses a lot more than the guy that takes all the way down to the end of the pen.

"My dad taught me that when you shoot, you have to look through the scope at a target. Because I rope right to left, the base of the right horn is my target's bull's-eye, and my loop, as I swing it in front of me, becomes my scope. I want to swing front to back, not just out in front of me, because I don't have any power in a swing out at the end of my arm. Then I drop my elbow, release, and hook the bottom part of my loop at 3 o'clock under the base of that right horn and follow through with the other side of the loop at 9 o'clock over the left horn. It's a guaranteed catch, because in the steer stopping, there's three legal catches: both horns, horn and nose, or neck. If you have the  right horn, you can fish the loop onto their nose and be OK, but if you don't have the right horn, you've got nothing."

"I've pulled the trigger by delivering my loop. My right hand, forward from the release, goes to the rope to pull slack. I pull back toward my right hip pocket, and at this point I change smoothly from my forward roping position to my deeper stopping position. (PHOTO 3A) I let my legs move forward with the momentum of my horse's stop, and my upper body shifts naturally back as my arm comes back toward my right hip."

#4- Holding The Steer

"Everything's forward until the stop. Approaching my sweet spot, I'm positioned with my belt buckle up near the saddle horn, then I rope, pull slack, and my horse knows that when I sit, he's got to be ready to get in the ground. As I pull my slack, I pivot my weight from up in my stirrups with my feet behind me to pressing down with my legs in front of me and with my upper body leaning back. Shifting my weight back helps my horse shift back too, deep on his hocks, taking a step or two back if necessary to keep the rope tight. (PHOTO 4)

"With experience, a horse learns to rate a steer's speed, cruise into the sweet spot, and handle holding the steer. He'll take the jerk calmly and not be tossed around by that 600-pound steer, because he's anticipating the weight and is prepared to counter-balance it by shifting his own weight back. I use my body cue - changing leg and body position - to not only remind him what's about to happen, but also to physically help shift the anchor weight - that's me and the horse - back and away from the steer. Done right, it's smooth and effortless, and it won't hurt my horse or pull the steer off its feet.

"In steer stopping, the judges are looking for the horse not to be jerked out of the ground, so you need the horse to anticipate the jerk of the steer and be ready for it. Then, by keeping your weight back and supporting his stop with your left hand, you'll keep him deep in the dirt, with tension on the rope and a good, clean stop. You teach them how to stop a steer when you dally the slow, big steer that you trail around, never at speed.

"If miss my steel; my horse may be almost stopped when I know that my catch isn't going to hold. To recover from a miss, I want to be able to build my second loop up as fast as I can without creating tension in my horse. Learn to build your coils from your right hand into your left hand so you don't pull on your horse. If you practice, you can flip your hondo into your right hand and build your loop without interfering with your horse's face. I think 'Keep my legs quiet, keep my horse quiet, just build my loop back and do it again."'

"I've caught my steer, and as I go to dally on the saddle horn, I need to be getting my fanny in the saddle with my left hand supporting my horse to a stop. (PHOTO 4A) If you stay up in the stirrups, you're going to get your horse jerked out of the ground. If you're leaning forward and your heel comes back and he even thinks a spur is coming, he'll come right out of the ground."

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How can I help you? I have trained horses that have gone on to win AQHA world championships and some compete at the NFR. Last year we had a young man who had never been on a horse in his life and in his first year he was rookie of the year in the USTRC. So if horsemanship or roping skills are what you're looking for Ill bet we can help you.