Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i The Team Roping Journal

Dear Roper, Some days, there’s so much hate, sadness, and division on the news—and it makes me feel just a little hopeless. And then some days, I find a reason to smile–a reason to keep believing, to keep loving, and to keep pushing for more for this world we all live in. That special day, for me, was September 29. I’d been home to Pittsburgh for a funeral. When I landed in Denver and turned my phone back on, I had a text from my friend Deborah Burt that said, “It was EPIC!! So many ropers showed up to support us.” She was talking about her Sam’s Posse Exceptional Rodeo at the Poway (California) Rodeo, which she and her husband Buck organized in memory of their dear son Sam, who…

HEADERS: CLAY SMITH $115,344.56 KALEB DRIGGERS $114,951.69 DUSTIN EGUSQUIZA $106,396.04 CLAY TRYAN $96,990.03 CODY SNOW $91,862.74 BUBBA BUCKALOO $88,868.00 CHAD MASTERS $85,342.14 DERRICK BEGAY $84,837.16 AARON TSINIGINE $84,044.49 LUKE BROWN $83,102.17 RILEY MINOR $81,553.75 TYLER WADE $70,443.71 ERICH ROGERS $68,305.18 LANE IVY $67,457.62 RHEN RICHARD $65,232.02 HEELERS: JUNIOR NOGUEIRA $115,935.54 PAUL EAVES $115,344.56 KORY KOONTZ $106,396.04 JOSEPH HARRISON $104,515.04 TREY YATES $98,438.95 TRAVIS GRAVES $93,132.89 CORY PETSKA $91,294.04 WESLEY THORP $88,173.41 JAKE LONG $83,102.17 BRADY MINOR $80,361.13 CLINT SUMMERS $79,466.97 CHASE TRYAN $68,283.82 BUDDY HAWKINS II $64,451.02 COLE DAVISON $62,476.81 QUINN KESLER $61,348.78…

Fast Back Ropes [Excalibur]  fastbackropes.com $42(head) – $44(heel) The Excalibur is a poly-blend four-strand with a core interior, natural in color for high visibility. It will appeal to ropers who prefer a rope medium in size and will be less affected by heat and direct sunlight; and has less body, providing noticeable tip weight. Head ropes will be 31’ and come in XXS, XS, S, and MS. Heel ropes will be 35’ and come in S, MS, M, and HM. Cinch [Bonded Jacket]  cinchjeans.com, $130 This new concealed carry bonded jacket from Cinch features an innovative textured fabric, water-resistant finish, and a waffle-backed fleece lining. Adjustable cuffs and dual concealed carry pockets accommodate both left- and right-handed shooters. Khaki logo embroidery and pewter zipper pulls accent the jacket, which comes…

Fourteen-year-old Everett Reeves is taking his time in the house while his brother, 16-year-old Quincy, and father, Kenny, saddle horses for their evening practice session. Randy, who rarely misses a practice at the Reeves home arena, hollers at Everett to hurry as he walks out the door. “I have to get after him,” Randy, 50, who prefers to speak as matter-of-factly as possible, said. While the rest of the Reeves ready the horses and warm up, Randy is busy. He’s bringing up the steers, hooking the sled up to his neon green Artic Cat ATV—what he calls his squad— and readying the arena. When everyone else is a’horseback, Randy will work the Priefert chute (suit, according to Randy), load steers, and drive his squad to pull the Hot Heels when…

Watch the function of the bit itself. For instance, if you pull on the reins and the shanks are pointed right back at you and the curb strap is not touching the chin, your strap is way too loose. On the other hand, if your curb strap is putting constant pressure on the horse’s chin, you’ll get some head shaking and eventually the chin will go numb and then you’ll have no leverage at all. Finally, make sure your bit is the correct width for your horse’s mouth. It should have clearance of an eighth to a fourth of an inch on both sides of the mouth, allowing for controlled movement and to avoid pinching. The standard width is 5 1/8 inches, but custom makers can create any size.…

The dreaded slump. We all experience it, but how we think about a miss, long time, or flub (or a string of bad runs), greatly influences our ability to rise out of it and return to the pay window. The “I’m A Failure” believes there is something about him or herself that is solely causing bad performances (an internal, stable, uncontrollable cause). Mind you, I’m not talking about a realistic appraisal of whether you need to change something about your swing, throw, riding, etc., to improve your catch rate. Instead, it’s a belief that there is something fundamentally flawed about you that prevents you from improving. You are likely to start viewing yourself as a failure instead of seeing specific aspects of your roping or bad circumstances as the reason…

It hasn’t always just been hard work; there’s been fun along the way. I have been associated with incredible people in my life, and I’ve always felt so lucky and thankful that I have crossed paths with those that are now famous in their own right. And you know you’ve been doing this a long time when you see your friends’ grandchildren becoming world champions, knowing that you had a small part in helping them become champions. There have been so many that helped me along the way—Tim Nelson, Ty Yost, John Johnson, Jeff Smith, just to name few—and countless others, too many to name. These producers helped lay the groundwork that made USTRC and WSTR. I guess the hardest thing about retiring is that this is a family that…

“Most people think ‘purchase’ is what you do when you buy the bit,” cracked ProRodeo Hall of Famer Mike Beers, who has a gold buckle and 23 NFRs to his credit. For the record, the amount of purchase (the part of the cheek piece above the mouthpiece, on either side) affects a bit’s leverage, which affects your horse’s lift or drop, flexion, head carriage, and body control. Beers should know. He’s had his own line of bits for three decades now, and has been teaching students at clinics for 30 years. In 1987, Paul Petska gave Beers his first chain bit. It was the design that soon swept the industry and became a go-to item for thousands of team ropers for two reasons: Most horses liked it, and most guys…

How many hours do you spend in the practice pen each week? Some 48 percent of ropers surveyed report they practice team roping five to eight hours per week. That means many ropers put in an extra full day’s work in the arena each week! Another 30 percent of respondents said they practice their roping more than eight hours each week, while only 4 percent said they don’t practice at all. Right in the middle, 12 percent of respondents reported roping two to four hours each week.…

We all talk about how tough a life rodeo is, and how you have to be part truck driver, gypsy, and gambler to try to rope for a living. It all looks really glamorous at the National Finals Rodeo, but getting there is a grind. As I finish up my 38th year as a professional team roper, I do have to say that I wouldn’t trade my career for the world. Roping has taught me a lot of great life lessons. I hear it all the time from business people in other professions—there are tough aspects to every job. That’s just life, and no line of work is easy all the time. There are a lot of things about what we do for a living that look pretty good to…

Jim Robertson, 70, grew up in New Brunswick, but headed west to Alberta around the age of 20. It’s where he established himself as a horseman and started his custom log furniture business. “I was in the horse business over there—roping and putting on ropings up around Grand Prairie,” Jim said. “I started Clay Tryan’s horse, Thumper, as a green colt and roped on him. He was a nice horse. I told the auctioneer, ‘If this horse went to the right place, he’d be a real champion.’” At age 3, the horse was purchased by Bob Robertson (no relation) and, as they say, the rest is history. Jim saw the horse again when he ran into Bob’s granddaughter—Tryan’s wife, Bobbie—in Arizona. “Then, when the National Finals was on, he was…

PARTNER PREFERENCE When Luke Brown was riding Rockstar, he really wanted to break more toward the pin. That required me to score more and leave the steer straighter and have enough trust that he’d take care of me as far as not moving the steer too fast. With other horses, Luke has wanted them leaning left more. ROOM TO THE RIGHT Lovington, New Mexico, is a big arena with a lot of room to the right. You know there’s no possible way the steer can go right, and it’s your responsibility to be the wall. You have no chance of winning if that run goes to the right. NO ROOM Rodeos like Sikeston, Missouri, are famous for the boxes being set down into a triangle. If the steer even looks…

Carson Jorgensen of Mount Pleasant, Utah, ropes and makes custom creations at Skyline Bit & Spur. He recommends you consider your horse’s personality and demeanor while bit shopping. How does your horse handle, and how sensitive is his mouth? It’s usually a misconception that when a horse isn’t working, a stronger or sharper bit is necessary. Jorgensen advises actually stepping down from the severity of the bit first. COMMON SIGNS OF A PROBLEM INCLUDE: • HEAD TOSSING • MOUTH GAPING • TONGUE GOING OVER THE BIT • LIFTING OR DROPPING THE HEAD VIOLENTLY WHEN REIN PRESSURE IS APPLIED • CHEWING OR MOUTHING THE BIT • REFUSING TO FLEX AT THE POLL OR RELAX THE JAW…

Attributions are created from a blend of beliefs about causality, stability, and control. First, causality is whether you believe you are the reason for your performance (internal cause) or something outside of yourself, such as your partner, horse, or draw, is what caused your go-round results (external cause). Second, stability is whether you believe what caused your results can be changed (stable cause) or not (unstable cause). Finally, control is whether you believe you can directly influence something to change (controllable cause) or not (uncontrollable cause). Intentionally using these three aspects to appropriately evaluate your performance allows you to have better emotional responses, make good decisions to improve performance, and keep your motivation high. While there is a plethora of situations that we make attributions about in a given day,…

We all love being on a winning streak. Everything seems easy. Your horse is working to his maximum, you are in the zone, and your swing is perfect. It even seems as if the “cattle drawing gods” cannot phase you. However, being mindful of your attributions about winning can help prevent you from ascending into dysfunctional styles that have negative consequences. The Smug Winner believes that a winning streak will go on forever (a stable cause) and that it is purely due to innate amazing roping ability (an internal, controllable cause). When you do this, you have a tendency to become boastful, brash, and take your performance for granted. This can result in alienating others around you. In addition, you are less likely to continue doing all the great work…

WHAT SACRIFICES HAVE GONE INTO MAKING YOUR FIRST NATIONAL FINALS RODEO? I had to commit to being full-time. I did nothing but rope. Everything extra was out of the picture. I was going to do whatever I had to do, go wherever I had to go. I’ve never done that before—I always wanted to go home every chance I got. I’ve not been home one time. It made all the difference. My mom and dad have backed me and put everything on the line. They’ve never told me if they’ve gone withoutthey’ve never made me feel bad about it once. I would never know everything they sacrificed, but they’ve done and given anything and everything I’ve ever needed.…