A Change Is As Good As A Rest...

Things haven't been going my way in the team roping pen lately and I've been feeling the frustration. After all, at 54 I only have so much time to become a champion so the stars have got to start lining up! () Somebody suggested I go breakaway roping. They're like, "You're catchy as heck, just go rope them calves, then it's just you and your horse."     Now, that does sound like a solution except for that pesky little reason I team rope; I love the whole 'team' part of the sport. The working together, the five brains complicating the run...header and head horse, heeler and heel horse, and then an escaping bovine in the middle...the thousand variables and the multitude of moving parts. A whole sack full of could-go-wrongs waiting to happen! But when it goes right....well, my goodness, the sense of accomplishment is literally awesome.      The way I figure it, to get real good at breakaway roping you have to be working hard at it. Same as team roping. It takes focus and time and being open to seeking knowledge from folks better than you. It takes polishing up your horsemanship skills as bad habits begin to slide in. It's about effort, and that is a dam big word. Commitment.  And that's an even bigger word.      Those are the things I've already given over to team roping. I simply don't have them to spare to become a competitive breakaway roper. (Remember the first paragraph; at 54 I'm still thinking I might be a champion when I grow up. ) The girls that are good at breakaway roping are phenomenal! I love to watch them rope. And I know myself well enough to know that I'd need to get grinding to catch up. It's my nature. It's not that I want to beat anybody, I just don't see any point in doing anything halfway.      So in conclusion, I have decided to switch things up for a bit, after all they say a change is as good as a rest. It isn't to go breakaway roping though. Nope. I am leaving that sport to the truly handy girls. I figure I'll go heeling for a while...well, for today anyway. How hard can it be? A lot of times all I ever see heelers do is lope up and down the arena while the headers are putting in all the effort. Heck, I can do that all day long!