Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i The Team Roping Journal

Dear Roper, Our February issue comes together at an odd time each year—over the holidays, going to press the first week of January. It’s a weird time, when we don’t know what day it is or where we are or how to spell our names after the chaos of Las Vegas followed up by holiday travel. It’s always my hope that we somehow pull it off, though, and that this issue comes together just as seamlessly as the other 11 or so we put out annually. Our contributors make that possible, and we’re lucky to have them. Barb Crabbe, DVM, owns Pacific Crest Sport Horse in Oregon City, Oregon, and has long been a contributor to our sister publication, Horse&Rider. I asked her if she’d be up for tackling some…

There’s no such thing as a perfect partnership, just like there’s no such thing as a perfect marriage. But since we’re on the same team as both our team roping partner and our spouse, why not bring as much to the table as we can? Everybody wins in both scenarios when both people give it their all. Based on decades of making a living with a team roping partner, I have a list of qualities I look for in a teammate. Since I’m kind of a workhorse-type person, I obviously want to rope with someone who’s putting in the effort, because across all the qualities I’m about to list, staying on the same page on a team is one of the most critical components. If you want to be the…

KAITLYN TORRES Torres, a 4 header out of Alice, Texas, claimed the No. 1 spot back in November 2019 when she won $4,650 in earnings from Xtreme Roping’s Ninth Annual Jingle Bell Classic, held in Stephenville. There, the 12-year-old shined particularly bright in the Super #9.5, when she turned four steers for Slade Wood in 35.58 seconds, earning the pair second place and $6,000. RUBY MAGNUS Magnus trails Torres by one spot and more than $2,000 with her $2,500 in USTRC earnings, also won at the 2019 Jingle Bell Classic. The 18-year-old, 6 header roped with Ross Ashford in the #15.5, and pulled four tight in 29.34 seconds to earn second place and a team total of $4,000. COURTNEY SMALL Small, a 6/5 switch ender from Welch, Oklahoma, won the…

A sign marks the entrance to the Agate, Colorado, Jolly Ranch. It reads, “Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Championship Ranch Rodeo Champion Team 2014.” Technically, and despite its modern, laser-cut steel aesthetic—unlike the well-weathered wood and painted “No Trespassing” sign wired to the fence at the cattle guard—this sign is old compared to the even newer, unhung signs for 2016 and 2019. This is the home of Jesse Jolly—three-time Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Champion, four-time Colorado Pro Rodeo Association All-Around Champion and multi-year Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale money earner. Exiting the highway, the seemingly endless and sagebrush-less flats of Eastern Colorado’s shortgrass prairie reach for the horizon, fenceline after fenceline. Until you reach the sign. There, the flats give way to the occasional low and wind-whipped…

Dex Maddock, 30, has a brand new, shiny Ariat WSTR Finale buckle—proof of his $114,000 windfall for winning the 2019 Yeti #13.5 in Las Vegas in December—but he’s not wearing it. “I’m just going to leave the new one in the case and put it on the shelf,” said the 6.5 header. Maddock, a rope horse trainer in Filer, Idaho, certainly regards that recent win as lifechanging, but he doesn’t have any plans to swap out his 2018 Jordan Valley Big Loop buckle any time soon. “It took me three years to do it,” Mad-dock offered. “I’ve been going to that rodeo since I was a little kid. I always told myself that was one of my big goals—to win the Big Loop Muley Roping. It’s a slick-horn muley team…

The 2020 Ariat NTR National Finals VI is slated to take place in Wickenburg, Arizona, March 2-7. Ropers will converge in the Team Roping Capital of the World to vie for thousands in cash and prize payouts including a new RAM truck, fancy Scott Thomas Custom Saddles and top of the line Gist Silversmiths trophy buckles. In 2019 the NTR Finals paid out more than half a million in cash and prizes to ropers of all ages and levels. In addition to the successful #9.5 Legends Championships—open to ropers over 50 and cowgirls over 40—a new #8.5 Legends Championships has been added. A special Rising Stars Dummy Roping Championships presented by Classic Ropes will award prizes in three divisions to the future stars of our sport. Notably the fees for…

I’ve been working on staying patient and not panicking, no matter the conditions, the steer or the situation. I don’t want to feel behind the run, but I want to relax leaving the box and carry that throughout the run. { Vital Stats } AGE: 24 ROPE: NV4 HM by Classic Rope NFR QUALIFICATIONS: 4 PARTNER: Chad Masters in 2020 HOME: Throckmorton, Texas CAREER EARNINGS: $486,622 1 I’m patient when the head rope goes on, and I let the steer develop and make my entry. From the start of the run, I want to be patient, even if I get into a bad spot or feel behind. 2 What I mean by not panicking is that I don’t want to make any extra movements if I’m in a…

WES GRIFFIN PORTED SNAFFLE “It has a real good feel. It has a ton of release. For me, it’s important that when you turn loose of your reins, the bridle turns loose, too. That bridle has a ton of release in it. The way that mouthpiece sits, it’s kind of like a correction, but kind of like a chain port. It has solid bars, so it’s easier on their bars—not quite as bitey, but you still have a little bit of a chain port and a little bit of a correction in the same bridle.”…

Every decade has its disease, and kissing spine is clearly in the running for the 20-teens. Your roping buddies might tell tales of purchases gone wrong or steady performers dropping out of the arena. One guy had surgery done on his gelding’s back before it even started having problems, while another woman had to retire her best mare when she suddenly started refusing to go in the box and bucking in the field. Everyone has an opinion or a tale to tell. It sounds absolutely terrifying and, frankly, you’re scared. Is your horse likely to fall victim to this terrible problem? Stories about conditions that impact your horse’s health get told and repeated in the jackpot parking lot or the feed store counter until they become the stuff of rural…

Laredo Truck Conversions, Interstate Truck Center, Pro Earth Animal Health and Ram Truck all joined the Ariat World Series of Team Roping’s sponsorship team for 2020, offering members even more benefits than ever before. Since 1998, the Azle, Texas-based Laredo Truck Conversions (laredoconversions. com) has been the top converter of trucks in the equine industry, customizing 900 trucks a year. “We are proud to welcome Laredo Truck Conversions as our newest WSTR partner,” said Lory Merritt, director of sponsorship for the WSTR. “Laredo offers a wide variety of pickup and large truck bed conversion packages as well as truck accessories designed for ropers.” Complementing that is the sponsorship of Interstate Truck Center (interstatetruckcenter.com), the new official mobile repair of both the USTRC and WSTR. “Interstate Truck Center is our official…

For eight days, ropers from across the country made their way to Rancho Rio in Wickenburg, Arizona, along with the state’s iconic Dynamite Arena in Cave Creek, where they competed during Yost Events’ Las Vegas Week for a $2.15 million cash payout—a sharp increase over 2018. Held each December in the Team Roping Capital of the World, Ty Yost’s Las Vegas Week in Wickenburg is consistently one of the top-five team roping events in the nation, for both payout and total teams. This year, 6,500 teams competed in every division from the Open down to the #8.5, with high divisional payouts across the board. Jaxson Tucker and Mason Saunders picked up the biggest check of the week when they pulled $26,560 in the #12.5 Big Gamble on Tuesday, Dec. 3.…

Q: Name your NFR years and partners. A: I roped with Kory Koontz in 1992 and ’93, Bobby Harris in 1995 and Bret Gould in 1997. Q: Name your NFR high and low. A: I have a couple highs, starting with the first steer I ever ran there. That feeling of, “I finally made it” is hard to beat. From the time I was a little boy I always wanted to rope there, but you don’t know if it’s just a dream or it’s for real. So that was cool. My next highlight was pretty much all of the ’97 Finals. Bret and I placed in seven out of 10 day moneys and won three of them. When you’re on a roll at the NFR, it’s pretty simple. It’s not…

Tyson Perez, 30, grew up in California’s Central Valley in the care of some pretty ropey parents—Frank and Sandy Perez. “I grew up with a rope in my hand. That was the first thing I did, before I played any sports. When I was just walking, I could swing a rope and rope the dummy, ride the horses. I had a little pony.” His whole life, roping has been a family affair. “It’s my whole family. My sister does, and my cousin—she lives there on the property with my parents and she ropes, too, so sometimes it’s a family gathering. We’ve got to take two rigs to a jackpot just to make sure we’ve got enough horses for everybody to rope. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. To…

SPOKE LENGTH The old-school rule is that your spoke should be the length of your arm. Sometimes mine gets a little longer but, generally, I want to keep it that length. If it gets too long, you won’t feel your tip and you’ll struggle to turn your rope over. You will be swinging just to swing. Cory Petska can use a lot of spoke, but for me, when I shorten it up, I have more success, particularly jackpotting. LOOP SIZE I used to use a small loop, until I roped with Rich Skelton. Every time I’d walk into the box, he’d drag my loop out three more feet. The bigger the loop you use heeling, the better off you are. That old saying, “big loop, big money,” isn’t a joke.…

Before we explore the myths, let’s take a minute to learn the basics about kissing spine, more correctly called “overriding dorsal spinous processes.” Your horse has 18 thoracic and six lumbar vertebrae that extend from his withers to his sacrum. Each of these vertebrae has a protrusion of bone at its midline that points straight up toward his back—similar to the dorsal fin of a fish. This bony protrusion is referred to as the “dorsal spinous process.” In most horses, there’s a distinct space between each of these spines. The dorsal spinous ligament runs across the top of the spines along the length of the back , and a series of smaller interspinous ligaments run between the spines to help provide stability. Overriding dorsal spinous processes are a radiographic diagnosis…

“My mom, she was a great mom. She was out there for me, and she has the biggest heart ever. At the same time, she was tougher than a dad. I kind of understand now. If she was just too nice, it wouldn’t work. I had no dad so she was tough, too. I remember, when I started roping, she’d turn me some steers… I remember I’d saddle three head horses and three heel horses and have everything ready. I would get her rope on the saddle horn. She’d rope one, I’d miss. She’d turn another, and I’d follow, follow, and miss. She’d back into the box, and she’d say, ‘OK, I’m going to rope him and you can follow him however long you want, but if you let your…