06/03/05 Loose cinch

Loose Cinch I've got another rodeo story; but this time I have to tell on myself. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll tell you about it in one minute. About the time I thought I could be a rodeo competitor a group of us neighbors entered in the first rodeo of the year in our area. We loaded just enough horses and headed out. Since it was one of the first rodeos there were a lot of contestants and the team roping was so full they actually ran some teams before the rodeo. The rodeos weren't quite so organized in those days so when we pulled into the arena that's when we found out my partner and I were the first team up. We hurried to saddle horses, ran to the office to pay our entry fees, and got in the arena just as the announcer called our names. Well right then my brain wasn't multi-tasking as they say now daysI was only thinking about throwing a good loop. Now, that part of my thoughts ran true, as I made a clean catch, dallied, and set the steer for my healer. After that things went south real quick. If my brain would have been on multitask mode I would have thought about my good loop and re-tightening the cinch on my buddy's horse, which I didn't. So as I turned off with the steer my saddle went from vertical to horizontal which makes for poor riding and a poor steer handle for my healer. But, still luck did smile on methe horse didn't buck and my limited bulldogging and baseball skills kicked in and I came off as easy as sliding into second base. Well, the boys back at the chutes were getting a pretty good laugh at my expense, but as the dust settled I could see they were all tightening their cinches. I'm Jeff Keane.