Draggers are just one type of steer that you’re going to draw. There are runners, pups, draggers, shufflers and steers that handle great. And if you rope for any length of time you ‘ll face them all. It’s almost like a dance. There’s the two step, the waltz and the cotton-eyed Joe. Steers are the same way. There are different patterns, so you need to learn to rope and handle them all. 

Point 1: The first thing you have to understand about a dragger is why he’s dragging. There are several things that can cause a steer to drag.

Point 2: If a steer’s head is sore because the wrap’s been on too long, he’s been rope-burned or has just been roped too much, he’ll tend to drag. Some animals naturally tend to resist being led. Some dogs are the same way, too.

Point 3: A sore ear is another thing that causes steers to drag. When a steer’s ear gets in the loop and the pressure’s mashing on it, he’ll want to drag.

Point 4: If you’ve roped a steer too deep and you’ve got both of his eyes in your loop, he might want to drag. On a fresh steer, than can work to your advantage and slow him down. He’s kind of blindfolded, so he’ll tend to hang back on the end of the rope. But an older steer that’s been roped quite a bit will want to hang back, sit down and drag if you catch him around the eyes. 

Point 5: Another thing that can make a steer drag is a heeler coming in too early on his approach. If he cuts the corner too much, the steer will sit back on the end of the rope, get heavy and drag.

Point 6: If you rope a steer around the neck and the heeler tracks him quite a ways, a steer will tend to choke down and drag. 

Point 7: If you know a steer drags, the best thing you can do is rope him around a half head or neck, and expect your heeler to be ready and to set up his shot quicker. He needs to hold his position back a little and be ready right when the steer turns, because the first or second jump will be his best shot. I don’t care who’s heeling, by the fourth or fifth jump the chances of getting a dragger caught go way down. 

Point 8: Most of the time, only a small percentage of heelers know the steers as well as the headers. It usually ends up being the header’s responsibility to know the cattle. Be sure to communicate with your heeler, so you can have a game plan and beat the steer to the punch if he tends to want to drag.

Point 9: People have always said you should handle a dragger by turning him, sliding him some rope, then jerking him out of the ground, But that’s the worst thing you can do because your heeler doesn’t know when or how much rope you’re going to slide him. So that can affect his position and make him get in too tight and on top of a steer, which causes a steer to drag. Then, when he pulls back off of the steer, you jerk the steer out away from him. 

Point 10: What you should do if you draw a dragger is go for a half head or a neck if you have the ability to do that. If not, rope him around the horns and when you turn him, angle down the arena slightly toward the far left-hand corner and don’t put a lot of pressure on the steer’s head. 

Point 11: Try to be more gentle in your handle when you draw a dragger. Most people want to jerk a dragger to make him come up, but all that’s going to do is make him drage even more. And if a steer’s feet are dragging on the ground, it’s impossible to capture him. At some point, that steer’s feet have to come up, whether it’s a walk or a hop.

Point 12: Remember, you have to tell your heeler what you’re going to try to do. That’s why it’s called team roping.