Everybody's in the same boat as far as making a strategy for their team. You need to work together toward the goals of the team, whether those goals include a world championship, a USTRC shootout, winning your local team roping association or your local jackpot. This is the fun part. Half the fun of roping is working at it and learning. I love working with my horses and my partner. I enjoy that process. If you keep the right perspective, the journey is half the fun.
These are good lessons the younger ropers can learn from the older guys. We've made the mistakes that taught us these lessons. When you're young and everything's ahead of you and it's all very exciting, it's easy. After a few years, when people find out how much work it is, it's easy to get a little down mentally. But if you can remember that this is fun, it helps keep you fresh. I've even seen some hobby ropers get discouraged and soured when they didn't reach their goals right away. There are people like that all over the place. That's where the old cliché about whining team ropers came from, and it's unfortunate. It doesn't have to be that way. As for me, I make a conscious decision that I'm going to have fun doing this. I love this time of year every year. I've always looked forward to a new season, a new race and a whole new adventure.
