{"id":1791,"date":"2011-03-29T19:10:59","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T23:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trickponies.wordpress.com\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2011-03-29T19:10:59","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T23:10:59","slug":"boomerang-the-roping-pony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paintingpony.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/29\/boomerang-the-roping-pony\/","title":{"rendered":"Boomerang the Roping Pony"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might remember that for my Birthday I wanted a lariat<\/a> so that I could learn to rope. To my surprise my husband had already gotten me one – before I publicly announced on the blog that it was on my wish list! I had no big plans for the rope, it was more just for fun and a good way to desensitize the ponies to new things.<\/p>\n

I spent the last few weeks roping things around the farm, fence posts, traffic cones, dachshunds<\/a>, I even tried to rope the neighbor’s dog that escaped (unfortunately my attempt was unsuccessful – although we did end up catching the dog). Then I started roping things in and around Boomer to get him used to it.<\/p>\n

Then just a few days ago I decided to try it while riding him. I wasn’t surprised to find that it didn’t faze him much, and I began using clicker training to teach him that the rope was a positive thing.<\/p>\n

My first few attempts to rope while mounted were pretty pathetic. Boomer tolerated me while I roped his face, a couple of legs, and tail. I’m still not quite sure how the cowboys manage to the throw the lasso, hold the extra rope, and steer the horse at the same time. It’s not easy!<\/p>\n

Anyway, here’s a few video clips of my first attempts at TROTTING and roping.<\/p>\n