Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i The Team Roping Journal

CINCH TIMED-EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP EQUINE DREAM TEAM If I were to put together the dream-team of horses for the Cinch Timed-Event Championship, I wouldn’t do much different than I did last year. For me, the key is to look for horses that won’t take anything away from me. I don’t want a horse to get quick or to duck. All the horses I rode to win it last year let me do that. I don’t want any rodeo bull dogging horse—that’s too fast for me to just have to go catch. I like them a little slower. My rodeo horses usually work out because I slow them down for a week or so. When I have to borrow horses, I want horses that will let me go catch and make my…

One of the elements of roping that’s the most different from roper to roper is the swing. People figure out their own way of doing it, and it can be totally opposite or different from the next guy and yet it’ll still work. Everyone basically figures out how to make his or her style of swinging a rope work. The swing functions as a power source, and also as a way of aiming your throw to the target in the delivery of the loop. The angles that you use in the swing determine what you’re able to do with it. When you learn to swing a rope as a little kid, you develop gifted abilities with your swing that you really take for granted. You don’t even really realize it.…

For success in the professional team roping arena these days, ropers have to have things squared away. Roping ability, team chemistry and horse power are usually dialed in to the top-tier level of near-perfection. So when a team features a header riding a recently converted heel horse and the heeler riding a converted head horse, odds are not usually with them. But that’s exactly what Dustin Egusquiza and Kory Koontz did en route to a $10,426 win at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver in January. After Egusquiza’s 2016, it’s little wonder he’s off to a hot start in 2017. First, he won the George Strait Team Roping Classic with Kyle Lawrence (a $122,000 per man payday). With that cash in hand, he got busy on his…

Tom Richards used a successful All-American Finals in Waco, Texas, to propel him to the top of the PRCA world standings early in the 2017 season, and he wears a buckle to prove it. While Richards didn’t win the All-American Finals—that honor went to Jake Cooper and Tyler McKnight—he did earn $11,410 for his second-place finish. He wears the buckle he won for winning the second round of his bracket with Russell Cardoza with a 4.8-second run, worth $2,779 each. They split the win in the first round, too, but Colby Lovell got to the buckle first and had already given it to his son, so Richards didn’t challenge him for it. “It’s been a good start to the year,” Richards, from Humbolt, Ariz., said. “I think I’m going to…

Veterans David Key and Walt Woodard came back second high call at the Sandhills Invitational to finish with 31.17 seconds on five head and net $6,250 a man. “Can I say that I knew I’d win it at 61 years old after driving all night from a roping school in Phoenix against the best guys in the world? No,” Woodard said. “Did I think I’d have a chance? Yeah. But the guys anymore rope so great.” Woodard, who plans to rope with Logan Olson at the ProRodeos this year, said Odessa’s setup is one of the toughest with its heel barrier, left fence and small pen. OTHER WINNERS: Match roping: Clay Smith and Paul Eaves Tie-down roping: Cy Frizzel ProAm Heading: Daryan Gonzalez and Ryan Motes ProAm Heeling: David Garcia…

Horsepower The first thing you need is a really good horse. That’s the most important thing, really. It wouldn’t hurt to have two—one good one and one backup horse, at least. And you’ve got to know how to keep them healthy and working, and learning that is much harder than you think. That comes with years of doing it and knowing when your horse is sore, when you need to go to the vet and when they need to be injected. You’ve got to be aware of your horse. You need to know how many steers to rope on him in the practice pen. You’ve got to know how to keep him in shape and how to keep up with his shoeing. You’ve got to take really good care of…

I’ve been roping for a living for more than 30 years, and I’ve always tried to be the very best I can be—and the very best, period. It’s been a battle start to finish to try to stay on top. So many guys rope so good right now. You can’t stay at the same level or they’ll pass you by. You have to work hard and keep evolving and reinventing yourself to stay competitive. Everyone experiences different stages in life. When Clay (O’Brien Cooper) and I were dominating, roping was my life. That was before I had a family and a bigger picture of a life. Everyone goes through the different stages. I’ve been a champion. I’ve been a husband and a father. I’m going to be 58 next month,…

Tie-down roper Carmine Nastri, 56, won the RAM First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo average title for the 13th time Jan. 14, in a career that has spanned nearly 35 years. Making the victory all-the-more improbable was the fact that Nastri hadn’t roped a calf since the middle of August, thanks to a hernia and pinched nerve in his pelvis. “On top of that, I sold my horse and bought a new horse two weeks ago,” said Nastri, a Ballston Spa, N.Y., native. “I didn’t even tie one down on that new horse until I got here to the Circuit Finals. So it feels pretty special to be able to come here and compete against these young guys and win.” Nastri placed in all three rounds of the RFFCFR, taking the…

CSI Saddlepads’ Marcos Costa Pad What sets it apart: CSI’s team worked with Costa to get the combination of contour and contact right. Costa wanted a lower-profile contour to sit closer to the horse’s back to limit motion. Lined right: The Marcos Costa Pad has the fleece liner in it—CSI’s platinum liner. The wear leathers are four inches instead of three, and come in slick or roughout. Comfort first: The pad comes with CSI’s flexplate, an orthotic for the horse’s back. More info: $400; csisaddlepads.com Tony Lama Tan Cuero 3R Boots Eye-catching: The red upper and stonewashed golden-brown square toe give the boot a casual feel but the exotic-printed panel on the spur ledge adds a bit of edge. Perfect for: Spending your day in the saddle thanks to the…

Spin To Win celebrates its 20th birthday this issue, and it’s fun to reflect on the ride we’ve all shared. I’m proud to be a member of the original Spin squad. Back when we opened the doors on the 16-page, black-and-white, how-to team roping newsletter, it was founder Tom Winsor, Jake Barnes, my dad—timed-event cowboy and veterinarian Frank Santos—and another very nice guy by the name of Ty Wyant. I’ll never forget the fateful day I got that first call from Tom. My husband and I and our two baby boys had just landed in California, and had basically jumped off of a career cliff as a family. He left his native Colorado and longtime job, and I left what I thought was my dream job as editor of the…

Depending on who you ask, rodeo got its start in a dusty field in Prescott, Ariz., in 1888 or in the sagebrush of Deer Trail, Colo., in 1869. Since then, cowboys and cowgirls have been on a quest to form a more perfect union of sorts between competitors, fans, stock contractors and the inevitable administrators and other role players who go along with running a successful organization. And much like the ongoing pursuit of a more perfect union in these 50 states, it hasn’t been easy. Rodeo, at its core, is one of the last holdouts of the Old West. In a world where kids know how to swipe their iPads long before they’d ever think to do a chore let alone swing a rope, rodeo is struggling to figure…