Dratted Kohout Challenge- Rope Something From Your Horse
Let me start out by bragging about being a total roper pro (see Roper Santa! I have that exact same rope.) I have roped the middle of a wild hackney pony (embarrassing story in book two). I have been in hundreds of roping lessons and clinics, excelling in all (none) of them!
In the Parelli world, the highest level of online horsemanship involves a 45′ lariat. We students start out hating the lariat. We live with our rope 24/7. We sleep with our rope. During my 2nd or 3rd year dealing with the rope, I complained that sometimes I was able to make loops and sometimes the rope fought me and was impossible to loop. That is when the glorious instructor explained that ropes are right or left handed and need to be held correctly. That is when I understood that the rope had to be looped in the correct position. Eventually, I passed the online tasks which also did involve looping the full 45 feet rope up while seated on the horse.
That was nearly 100 years ago…or 20….
Now we have the Kohout Challenge in our Missouri Fox Trot Urbane web site. https://foxtroturbane.com/
Day One. I’m sitting on Fancy with my beloved lariat. I can’t get a throwing loop. My throwing loop is a figure eight. I can’t get it to be a circle. (I’m back to hating the rope.)
Day Two on the ground. I get my figure eight loop and turn it up side down. Miraculously, it becomes a loop. I was holding it upside down! Aha!
Day three is today sitting on Fancy. I get my loop. I whirl it over Fancy’s head. I throw it and it goes about six inches. Another miracle occurs and I get it looped back up. I discover that I’m holding it in the wrong place. Now the whirling feels better. I throw. Sadly, I’m holding the rest of the lariat so the loop flies only about two feet. Aha!
I decide Fancy should walk and I’ll rope a cone while moving. A roping failure miss happens, but what improvement!
I try to loop up the lariat. The rope won’t move. Fancy must be stepping on the rope. One hand holds the loops, one hand tries to pull the rope and it still won’t move. Fancy must be stepping on the rope with a back foot. I ask the back feet to move and pull on the rope again. It won’t move. Repeat, it won’t move.
Damn, Fancy must be caught in the rope. I’m holding a rope attached to Fancy’s back foot. This isn’t looking good. I throw the hated rope on the ground and dismount.
Sigh….
I roped my horse’s back foot. I am a roping pro!
