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This is Randall Powell with Expert Village and in this clip I am going to explain the
specifics in heeling a steer. When you are heeling a steer, you need to have a pretty
good size loop. Like I said, it is all about the timing. As soon as you come out of the
box, you need to be swinging your rope and looking at the steers back feet as they run
out of the pen and get your rope in time with the steers back feet. Once the header takes
hold of the cattle and turns the steer, it's called your corner there. It's the first legal
shot you have is called your corner and you will move your horse and it's a timed event,
so the faster you rope the steers back feet, the faster your time will be and the more
money you will win. When you come in as a heeler, you keep that rope at an angle around
your horse's left ear and once you are in time with the steers back feet to deliver
your loop, you just come straight across like you would if you were putting something on
a shelf. If the shelf's back was to you, you need to put something on that shelf, you would
just deliver just like that and keep your bottom strand really firm on the ground. To
do that you push down with the outside of your hand to keep that loop really down and
you want your top strand just right above the steers knees and that's what you guide
with, your index finger. So when you come in and deliver, you see you've got your trap
under there, you see the steers back feet jump in whether it be 1 or 2, pull your slack
and your horse should automatically stop if he is a trained heel horse. You pull your
slack and get your dally which would be your saddle horn in front of your navel area there.
It's going to be a western saddle you ride your rope on. So whenever you get your feet
roped and your slack pulled, you take your dally around the horn and back your horse
up and that would cause the rope to come tight and turn your head around which in turn would
stop the time clock. Those are the specifics on how to heel a steer.