I Wanna' Be a Cowboy....

So what do you do when you have nothing else to do in Oklahoma? You watch people rope cows. That's what we did last night. We loaded Cinch up in the trailer with LeRoy and Freckles and they went to a friend of a friends arena, so the girls could all ride together before the roping practice started. It's good for Cinch to leave Star and go away, so that they don't get buddy sour. The first time he left her, and Hannah rode him at the arena, Star freaked out. This time she acted like nothing was happening when he left. I guess she knew he was coming back.

Now that is a good looking arena.

Lauren going to town on Freckles, even though she's only 4. Poor Freckles didn't get a break.

Hannah has decided that she wants to do youth Breakaway roping. She'll basically rope a calf on horseback and once she does rope it, she turns loose of her end of the rope. Sounds simple. So she's practicing, getting a lesson from Jordan and even one from Helen. Meanwhile, Peyton breaks in the barrels.

What a clown. Cute picture though. Love these barrels. Wish we'd had them in our arena in Louisiana. They pop up and down, and you can put a sandbag in them or a bag of dirt if it's windy.

Jordan.

Hannah says it's "harder than it looks". She finally got the hang of it when no one was watching.

Those long arms have to come in handy throwing that rope...

My friend Helen giving Hannah the rhythm lesson with the rope...

Nelson ropes his kid. You gotta' practice on something I guess. I told Hannah I'd be her cow. (stop laughing)

Look 'yall, a real live cowboy! Doesn't he look like he belongs on a Stetson commercial or something? during the day he tells people what to do at Sonic Headquarters and if you ever find a hair or a fingernail in your food, he's the man you call. (you're welcome Nelson).

Kenny Ray's horse. He calls him Eddie but it isn't his name. You know how cowboys are.

OK, this is really funny, because this obviously is NOT a cowboy. Carl got the job of opening the grate thingy and letting the cow out for them to rope. By the end of the night, the front of his shirt and shorts was covered in cow poop and snot. It was pretty gross. This is his official cow poop outfit now. I think he needs some boots, don't y'all?

This cow went a little nuts and was trying to get out of the cage thingy. It made one kid scream and cry and made me take a few steps back. Nutty thing.

This one was kneeling in the cage before they released it. I said beforehand, that it was praying "please Lord, let me run fast so they don't rope my horns". And you know what, it did. It outrun them and they didn't catch him.

Guy on the left is called the "header" and he ropes the head and Nelson on the right is the "heeler" and he ropes the feet. I've learned the past couple of weeks, that typically, guys either head or heel, they don't bounce back and forth.

In between the sets of two runs with the cows, the girls rode. Cinch seems to enjoy the arena and appears to care less about the cows.