4 100th of an Inch

That was the rain amount last night in Oakdale, CA. 

It was cold, and a bit windy this morning.  It was certainly easy to watch the horses from the window, and drink another cup of coffee.   But that's not what the Camarillo's do.  Just call them and ask "What are you doing today?" Expect the same response that you might have gotten in April, July or October.  "Ropin'!  Its what we do!".   If you aren't happy with your end of year standings, or maybe that heading horse is cheating off to the left too much be honest with yourself and ask "what did I do to improve my roping during the holiday week?"  One of the best things you can do is a) keep roping and b) get some help.  For most, other than the pros getting ready for Colorado and Texas rodeos in January, the recreational roper has a bit of time off.  For those that want to do better in 2010, now is the time to go back to the practice pen and rope like you did when you were trying to make or win the finals (at any level - high school, am or pro) in 2009. 

There was time to watch the Eagles beat the Broncos in the last 7 seconds and sqwash Denver's hope for the playoffs.  There was time to trim a few bushes or clean up the Christmas decorations, and YES! there was time to rope today.

If you would like to rope better in 2010 than you did in 2009 be honest with yourself and determine if you did what you could today to improve your chances.  Did you throw 50 loops at a dummy?  Did you saddle up and ride to "leg up" your horse?  Did you rope the Hot Heels and then go after 2 flights of live steers? 

If you were in Oakdale, California today, with Jerold Camarillo you would have witnessed 4 horses saddled and later ridden.  You would have seen circles in the arena where the Hot Heels roping dummy made trips in front of the boxes for headers and heelers to practice their timing and delivery.  You would have seen two flights of steers leave the chute, running down a rain soaked arena just dry enough to ride in, and you would have seen the ropers that want to be better in 2010 than they were in 2009 dirty up a rope!

If you watched TV and never threw a loop today, then you weren't roping with Leo in Arizona or Jerold in California today.

That's fine, but don't expect to go to the pay window unless you put down that coffee, saddle that  horse and rope and ride in the wind a bit this winter.