Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i The Team Roping Journal

Despite snow and ice, the 20th annual Cinch NTRL Finals paid out $1,015,000, surpassing its 2024 record by $12,000 and yet again taking the title as the highest-paying roping east of the Mississippi. “We were getting ready to break all records, for sure, then Tuesday before we started, there were major snowstorms throughout the Southeast,” USTRC President John Johnson said. “It was crazy—I-10, I-75 and I-95 were all closed for a couple days. But we still had 2,900 teams and paid out $1,015,000 cash and prizes, making it the largest payout ever east of the Mississippi, topping last year by $12,000.” Ropers from each corner of the United States gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, Jan. 22-26, setting high hopes for the years to come. “We had ropers from California to the…

Q: Where’d you win all that money that shot you way up high in the world standings in the early going this season? A: I’m kind of a winter rodeo guy. Last fall, Cory Kidd and I placed at Hempstead, Bellville, Lubbock and Dayton (Texas), and I placed at the Texas Circuit Finals with Cash Duty. Cory and I placed in the second round and average at Odessa, and Lightning (Aguilera) and I won almost $10,000 at Denver in January. (All that before press time in February.) Q: How hard do you plan to hit it this year? A: I actually sold my heel horses this winter. That’s what I do now. I ride, train and season horses here at home at the amateur rodeos. I want to be the…

I’ve always been laid back and I’ve always tried to not let stuff bother me because I’ve learned it doesn’t help at all. My dad planted that seed early, though you could say it was probably more of a “Do as I say, not as I do” thing because if he ever messed up, he’d get really mad. But, really, he hardly messed up because he never changed what he did. He rarely missed, and watching him, I wanted to be like that. I figured out the best way to not mess up was to not change what I did or how I acted. This winter, the short rounds at Fort Worth and San Antone ended up being easy, but there’s no way to anticipate that. Every other time, you…

The record-breaking 2024 Ariat World Series Finale XVIII continues to get accolades by officially becoming the richest Quarter Horse event in the world, the richest payout in team roping history and the richest amateur event in the world. That should be enough to get you wondering “How do I get to the Finale in 2025?” The easiest path starts at WSTR qualifier events. Every qualified roper is guaranteed a spot at the Finale, provided timelines are met. Each roper’s circumstance is considered on its own merits, so you don’t have to enter together as a team when you qualify. The next priority is given to the Legacy and Silver Legacy ropers. These ropers are also guaranteed a spot, as long as they take care of their entries before the May…

The 2025 Royal Crown took Buckeye, Arizona, by storm, Feb. 5-10, and all the action lives on Roping.com. While viewers watched four full days of team roping action, from the 6 & Under Heading and Heeling all the way to the #9 Jackpot, breakaway and tie-down roping fans were also in for a treat. Monday, Feb. 10, featured the breakaway and tie-down roping divisions with the 6 & Under, 4 & Under and All Ages. Fans can relive all the action from the team roping, breakaway and tie-down roping on Roping.com on demand. CHAMPIONS 6 & Under Breakaway: Shelby Meged and Kitty Corona; $11,100; 302.07 points on three 6 & Under Tie-Down Roping: Haven Meged and Wares The Hottie; $9,500; 360.57 points on three 4 & Under Breakaway: Macie Rae…

TIE-DOWN OR NAH? All-around hand Clayton Hass is training rope horses with Slick Robinson even more than he’s bulldogging these days, and he’s got some tie-down know-how. WHY A TIE-DOWN? We use tie-downs to give horses something to balance on, to prevent them from learning to root in the bridle when they’re looking for something to push into. Tiedowns help rope horses find the balance they need when they’ve got to run hard, move quick and stop. NO TIE-DOWN? I skip the tie-down on young horses a lot of times because I’d rather get them broke to get behind the bridle and stop. Young horses have been loping circles with the colt starters usually or in another discipline, so we’re trying to get them comfortable, pick their heads up and…

Clayton Edsall—the 2016 World’s Greatest Horseman and NRCHA Derby Champion—shot a new series for Roping.com, crossing over between colt-starting, cow horse and roping, with his ranch-raised horsemanship roots coming through. Edsall’s series features Gold Buckle Futurities stallion Bet Hesa Boon, the horse he won the herd work preliminaries on at the 2025 WGH. Edsall has $1.7 million in NRCHA earnings and counting, and he’s based in Mineral Wells, Texas. “Clayton’s got a horsemanship background most can only dream of,” Roping.com’s Chelsea Shaffer said. “He grew up on a ranch in Montana, he trained under the industry’s best horsemen, like Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, and he’s translated all of that into the show pen. What he brings to team ropers is some core horsemanship understanding—right in line with what we’ve…

In the rope horse futurity game, good help is worth millions—literally. Brock Hanson has become one of the most sought-after futurity helpers—in the heading and heeling—and he played a major role in the $178,962 total that the ropers he helped won at the Royal Crown. Hanson, an NFR header, helped a long and impressive roster of team ropers in Buckeye from the 6 & Under ropings and down to the Limited. His job as a world-class helper has become a huge priority. “It’s pretty much my main deal, the helping and doing that,” Hanson said. “I mean, there’s basically one show a month, so I spend the rest of the month prepping horses and practicing. And then the futurities.” Hanson’s heaviest hitters in Buckeye were Jeremy Buhler, Billie Jack Saebens…

EVERY YEAR, “THE SCORE” ROUNDS UP REPORTS ON THE ROPE HORSE MARKET. IN 2025, WE CAUGHT UP WITH GEORGE STRAIT CHAMP GARRETT TONOZZI FOR HIS TAKE ON THE STATE OF HEAD HORSES GOING INTO SPRING. “It’s unbelievable right now. I mean, the Western industry is at an all-time high. It’s amazing what kind of money horses are bringing, and the things people are doing with horses are just incredible right now. I’m just riding a bunch of young ones and trying to make good horses. I help (wife and three-time WPRA World Champion Barrel Racer) Brittany get hers started, and I rope on all of them. I give them two different jobs, and I’m making as good of horses as I can—whether they’re barrel horses or head horses. Every horse…

Tanner Tomlinson and Travis Graves let their ropes do the talking with their 4.9-second run at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, worth a total of $25,350 a man for the tournament-style rodeo in 2025. The new partnership—with two NFR average titles between the 24-year-old header and 40-year-old heeler—marked Tomlinson’s first Fort Worth title and Graves’ third. It shot Tomlinson and Graves both to first in the PRCA world standings. Tomlinson and Graves went last out in the final round of eight on Saturday, Feb. 8, with only the Texas team of Cody Carter and Blake Bentley’s 5.0 on the board clean. “It fell apart,” Tomlinson said. “Being last out, if we need to go fast or if 7 is winning second a 3.8 is winning first, we know…

I got my (Rodeo Cowboys Association) card in 1978. I was 17 at the time—you didn’t have to be 18 then—and only went to a few rodeos the last part of the year with Brian Burrows. I remember flying to Albuquerque and winning second there that fall. That was back when the Top 15 individual team ropers could invite a partner to the NFR, and me getting to go was thrown out there as a possibility. I was just a young kid who didn’t know anything, but looking back, that cost me my rookie status. And though I don’t remember the specific reason, the rules at that time did not allow me to go to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo). I just amateured and jackpotted with Bret Beach in 1979…

BACK TO OUR RUN Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord are back with a vengeance for 2025. Here’s how Lord stepped up his game to get his second San Antonio title, and Egusquiza’s third. If Birdie, my good bay horse, has one hole, it’s that he’s not the fastest there is. So when I had a chance, I got this 16-year-old gelding, San Jo Deacon by San Jo Lena out of a Playgun mare Play Fox, before the NFR. I call him Little Blackie, and he’s the fastest thing I’ve ever been on. He’s helped get Dustin and me back to our run in time for the building rodeos. And Dustin’s got this new head horse who’s easy to catch on in the buildings. It doesn’t change our run; it lets…

At 24, Tanner Tomlinson is still classified as a team roping young gun. The 2020 Resistol Rookie Header of the Year has been busy making his mark on professional rodeo in recent times, with two Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifications in 2022 and ’23 already to his credit. Both of Tomlinson’s trips to Vegas were with two-time World Champion Heeler Patrick Smith. Perhaps this kid’s wise beyond his years, because Tomlinson is leaning heavily on seasoned veterans— horse and human—again in 2025. And how it all happened at Fort Worth in February felt like a Hollywood script. You can’t talk to Tanner without hearing his sincere gratitude for the Patrick Smith Effect on his roping career and life. “I don’t even know where to start when talking about all Patrick’s…

The allure of “freshies” is real. In fact, Mexican steers are as addictive as any drug to Oregon contractor Tygh Campbell, who, for a decade, has provided roping steers to pro rodeos like Pendleton, Nampa, Ellensburg and Cheyenne. Cattle with the M brand have always been the holy grail; they’re less wild to handle and more honest to rope. They also last longer in the arena and feed up better at the end of their careers. Contractors play the steer market every season, sometimes losing a little and sometimes a lot. But this winter, they faced a parasite outbreak that closed the Mexican border for several weeks, plus the threat of a 25% tariff. There was more hand wringing and nail biting than usual from producers all scrambling for the…