Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i The Team Roping Journal

Dear Roper, The roper on our cover, Kenna Francis, is no stranger to most of you. She's in the office at so many of the country's biggest ropings, from the Riata Buckle to the Ariat World Series of Team Roping's outdoor qualifier at the Finale to so many qualifiers in Texas and New Mexico produced by Mathews Land and Cattle. When we first started The Team Roping Journal back in 2017, Senior Editor Gabriella Schiavino trekked to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to get a peek into the lives of Chris and Kenna Francis, Oren Mathews and Cade and Kersti Passig at MLC. The resulting story was called Elements of Success, and it's still a great read seven years later. In 2019, I first got to really know Chris and Cade…

Ropers at home with | Jake Barnes | Clay O | military salute | big break Q: Where is Lampasas, and what's it like there? A: Lampasas is on (Highway) 281 between Hamilton and Austin. It's about an hour north of Austin, and an hour and a half south of Stephenville. I was born in Stephenville, and raised in Lampasas, which is a bigger town that still has smalltime vibes. Everybody in Lampasas wants to see you do good. Q: Reigning World Champion Barrel Racer Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi and her National Finals Rodeo header husband, Garrett, also live in Lampasas. Are you neighbors and friends? A: Yes. Garrett and I are great friends, and I go rope there as much as I can. We just cooked steaks for them before Garrett…

In late 2023 the men at War Horses for Veterans got a call—Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker had a Relentless Remuda horse that might fit their program. “So Ty Smith with Solo Select heard that Trevor Brazile was looking to donate a horse and wanted to know the right place for it to go,” said medically retired Marine Sgt. Jake Greenlief, who is the War Horses for Veterans Ranch Manager and Director of Equine Management. The WHFV program was founded in 2014, three years before Greenlief completed his 10 years of service. Based in Stilwell, Kansas, its mission is to empower and equip “veterans and first responders who experienced lifedisrupting trauma to recover” through exceptional horsemanship. Emphasis on exceptional horsemanship. Any program that's introducing people who've maybe never touched a…

After a successful winter and spring worth $50k by May, Jake Smith has secured his first top-10 spot in the world heading standings and has his best shot yet at hurdling the National Finals Rodeo-cut wall that's kept this Broken Bow, Oklahoma cowboy home in Decembers past. Being three deep in horses has everything to do with Smith's 2024 success, and his No. 1, Guns, has been firing. More Guns Less Roses is a stout 9-year-old sorrel who stands 15.3 hands, and pushes the scales at a sturdy 1,200 pounds. “Guns is the horse I ride at the longer-score rodeos with averages,” Jake said. “We won good at Logandale, Red Bluff and Clovis this spring with me riding Guns, and I'll ride him at rodeos like Reno, Casper, Sheridan, Salinas…

GANGSTER WAS A GAME CHANGER FOR YOU AT THE WOMEN'S RODEO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. “I told Chris when it was over that I needed to text Kaleb (Driggers) and tell him thank you for allowing me to own this horse, because he's so amazing. He is by far one of the easiest horses I've ever ridden. He scores every single time. He never takes a throw away from you, and he never ever gets quick. He always goes to the steer, every time you ride him. So he's never going to take your rope, he's never going to duck and he's going to score every time. To be 19 years old and to have been rodeoed on as much as he has, he is amazingly honest.” — Kenna Francis on her…

Jade Corkill, now a three-time PRCA world champion heeler, was 20 when he won RodeoHouston in 2008 with Chad Masters, propelling him to his first National Finals Rodeo qualification that year. Masters and Corkill had started roping earlier that winter for the first time, but their run at Houston was the last one they'd make until the summer. “Chad had torn his knee up getting ready for the (Cinch) Timed Event (Championship),” Corkill said. “He was roping at Houston, and then he got surgery and was out until Reno.” They made the most of it, taking the RodeoHouston saddles, buckles and $50,000 payday. But the win occurred back before RodeoHouston paid equal money in the team roping, so each man walked away with $25,000. “We were the last team to…

A USER-FRIENDLY HORSE PROGRAM Dakota Kirchenschlager wants anyone to be able to ride behind him. Here are the key components of his training program to make that possible. I have spent a long time putting together a program and a setup that lets me do what each horse needs every day—and along the way, I've learned things from guys like Brad Lund, Gary Wells and Bill Myers who've shown me pieces of what they do to make great horses. Here are some foundational pieces of what I do to make horses that can go on beyond my time with them to be successful with their owners at the jackpots or with guys going down the road trying to make a living rodeoing. 1 ALL ABOUT CONTROL My program is about slowing…

At the Barrier | association news | industry news | new products The Ariat World Series of Team Roping's biggest qualifier of the summer—JX2 Productions’ The Daddy—is scheduled for July 18 to July 22 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after paying out over $1.5 million in 2023. The Daddy features a full schedule of special-fees Ariat WSTR qualifiers, plus muley slide ropings, legends ropings, bonus ropings and a Super 7-Header that paid out $260,000 in 2023. The roping will award 20 Gist Buckles to average winners of all Ariat WSTR qualifiers plus a full prize line in the bonus ropings too. “This will be our 18th year,” Producer and USTRC President John Johnson said. “We are the third-largest qualifier of the season, and it's our team who makes the roping succssful, year…

The toughest ropers in the world, back when Michael Jackson was moonwalking and Apple was promoting its first computer, knew squat about bloodlines. But even then, according to Hall of Famer Tee Woolman, all somebody had to say was “Harrison horses” and they knew they were good ones. Quietly, for almost 90 years, the Harrison Ranch has produced some of the best rope horses in the world. Over the past few years, those include (to name just a few) the heel horse on which Steve Purcella split a $178,000 Finale check, the head horse turned 2023 AQHA/PRCA Steer Roping Horse of the Year, the defending Head Horse of the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Pro Classic and the champion heel horse of the #13.5 at the latest Cinch USTRC Finals. Most…

• Aug. 16 to 17 CLOVIS LIVESTOCK TOP HAND TEAM ROPING AND SALE Where: Mallet Event Center and Arena, Levelland, Texas This sale offers Clovis Livestock's normal broad selection of horses, but it also features about 40 head of team roping horses. They'll be showcased with a 12-slide drawpot with a $10,000 purse and prize line from Top Hand Ropes, a mainstay of the Clovis portfolio. The draw-four format is progressive on one, so horses can make a maximum of 16 runs—giving consignors ample opportunity to show what their horses can do. More info: clovishorsesales.com; 575-309-6322 • Sept. 2 SELECT ONLINE LABOR DAY YEARLING SALE Where: theselectonline.com The Select Online Sale has spent the last four years growing into the biggest online horse sale in the business, specific one-day sales…