Boxing Pitfalls to Avoid

I really don’t like to dwell on the negative aspects of a run, that’s why I started the previous segment on boxing with the ways to improve your score. However, the score card has many more ways to lose points than to gain them, so let’s spend some time on things we can avoid, so we score better.

Marking a 70 isn’t just staying out of the penalty box, but that’s a really good start.

There is a 1 point penalty every time you lose working advantage of the cow or are out of position. That can be a miss (the cow zigs and you zag), a quick move by the cow that causes significant distance between you and the cow, or even working the cow cockeyed (technically called out of position). Meaning you’re way past it on one side, and you don’t get to the other side and get “evened up”. The bummer is, that if you lose working advantage once or twice, the one point penalties are in effect, AND your “position and control” score is going to suffer too, so it’s a double whammy.

When you lose a cow down the fence for a 3 point penalty, it’s almost always accompanied by a 1 pt loss of working advantage. How else would a cow escape down the fence, if you didn’t lose working advantage? And, to add insult to injury, if the cow gets away not only do you have those 2 penalties, but your “position and control” box suffer, and “time worked” and maybe “courage” are going down too!

The 5 point penalty of spurring or hitting in front of the cinch are always under our control. But not so, blatant disobedience. Sometimes, horses will be horses, and pull a nasty on us. In my humble opinion, if that happens, I would opt to school my horse within the limits of good horsemanship/showmanship, take my zero, and hope that doesn’t happen again.

Other ways to score below 70, aren’t always penalties, but run content. The judge considers that you are below par, in any (or all of the run content boxes). That will affect your score negatively.

I think the best strategy for beginning boxers is to stay out of the penalty box (just like reining). Then, strive to get a check in the 5 run content boxes (position/control, degree of difficulty, eye appeal, courage and time worked). In my next boxing article, I will go over how your run content in those boxes is linked together like I did with building a credit earning run previously.

When you can mark a 70 fairly consistently, then try to start to up your game. Watch the open riders box (before they go down the fence). Study the people in your class who consistently mark well. How do they approach the cow? How close do they get? How does their horse move with it? What do they do with their hands and legs? Study your videos with someone who has a trained eye. Get input from your trainer what to focus on each week, or between shows. And, most important, learn the mental skills, so that you can take more control over your mind, and put the adrenaline and self-sabotaging thoughts out of your head permanently! And so, for those last reasons, I’m not including any pictures of sub-par boxing runs!!

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS