Horsmanship... Its more important than you think!

Horsemanship is defined as skill in riding and handling horses.  I think at times we get ahead of ourselves when we want to rope.  Usually when I am having a bad day roping its due to my lack of riding my horse like I should.  People that are good riders before they learn to rope have an easier time with the process. My horse requires me to really sit down and pick up on him in order to get a hold of cattle to turn the corner.  I think women tend to lean more on the head and heel end than men, perhaps we are more top heavy. Haha..... Leaning is one of the biggest issues with many female ropers. Leaning is poor horsemanship. I used to ride hunter/jumper horses, and the first time you lean forward in front of a jump, that horse will slide to a stop like a reining horse, and generally the rider takes a flight.  No fun!!  So in practice, if you chose to make a goal a day, make not leaning a priority, and get your horsemanship where you want it, and the rest will fall into place.
Check out this link on balance http://horsemanpro.com/articles/balance.htm

Rodeo and Roping From a Girl's Perspective

When you think of Rodeo, you think of it as a men's sport, other than barrel racers and flag girls.  The truth is, rodeo is becoming more and more open to women.  Team Roping is being dominated by girls all over the country.  Women cannot team rope in the PRCA, unless there is some loophole unknown to me, however the sport of team roping has plenty of avenues for women.  All of us that rope know that a woman's handicap number stays far lower for far longer than a men's number.  The Women's Professional Rodeo standings reflect times very similar to those of the PRCAhttp://www.wpra.com/standings_world.asp.  I'm not here to preach women's rights, however it would be pretty awesome to see girls in the team roping at the NFR.  I do realize if you open one event, many would say you have to open them all.  I truly don't want to see women riding rough stock, but if team roping was open, a girl would have a shot at all around if they ran barrels also.