Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i The Team Roping Journal

KENDRA SANTOS: Where were you when you hurt your thumb? ERICH ROGERS: I was at a ranch rodeo held during Cowboys and Indians Days in Casa Grande. KS: What happened, exactly? ER: We were doing the stray gathering event, where two guys run down the arena and head and heel a heifer, lay her down and tie her up. She has to stay tied for 10 seconds. I was heeling for Cole Robertson, and we were just making a run. He roped her and I heeled her, and when I went to dally it started to run. My hand got sucked down into the dally, and it happened fast. In the blink of an eye, I felt it pull, and I pulled my thumb out of…

With more and more people roping, team roping just keeps evolving like every other sport. It’s almost getting to the point where I can’t believe how tough it is. These young guys are coming on so fast. At a lot of rodeos here lately, if you weren’t a quick 4 you could forget about it. It makes you wonder how much further it can go. The bar keeps being raised in every sport, and team roping is no exception. Every time I think it’s gotten as good as it can get, it seems like the bar gets raised again. It makes me wonder what else anybody can come up with to make this event faster. The financial opportunities are at an all-time high, but winning your share of it is…

When New Mexico heeler Kurt Etsitty came tight on his short round steer in 6.83 seconds to win the Senior Team Roping at the 2015 Indian National Finals Rodeo, his thoughts immediately went to his father, Kee, who died last July at the age of 92. Kurt wore the Navajo Code Talker patch on his shirt to honor his late father. The elder Etsitty was a Navajo Code Talker in World War II, serving in the Fifth Marine Division in the South Pacific, as well as a major proponent of Indian Rodeo for more than half a century. Code Talkers were crucial to the Allies’ efforts in the Pacific Theater, using Navajo words to spell out key tactical messages through radio communication. The Japanese Imperial Army never cracked the spoken…

Jackie Crawford’s Elevate DVD From: 14-time WPRA World Champ Jackie Hobbs-Crawford and the producers of Trevor Brazile’s and Patrick Smith’s Legend. You’ll get: The most unique angles of breakaway calf roping, as well as insights into Crawford’s industry-respected horsemanship. With cameos from: Joe Beaver, JJ Hampton, Lari Dee Guy and Cody Ohl. More info: $69.95; jackiecrawfordroping.com Noble Perfect-Fit Western Shirt Problem: Blowing buttons on your performance shirts Noble’s solution: The Perfect Fit Western Show Shirt sports an innovative hidden YKK zipper front and a fitted design with stretch material to create a feminine shape that is form fitting without being restrictive. Summer days: Made with Coolmax fabric, the shirt has a traditional cotton hand paired with modern performance properties to keep you cool and comfortable. Opti-Dry technology wicks away moister…

THE SCENARIO At the Helzapoppin’ ProRodeo in Buckeye, Ariz., in February, we knew our steer would be really good and possibly circle. We were going to let him go right so he wouldn’t circle, but then after watching the first few teams, right looked really bad, so I told York (Gill) to bring him left and I’d try to score good. START My horse was really good, so he let me get the perfect, flat start. I could read the situation and see the steer coming to me so I could just move him over and catch. I ran right up to him and caught him. I really didn’t do much spectacular at all. I was just along for the ride. CATCH I got him on a short rope because…

Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Bought My Permit 1. You’ll go broke trying to save money on a horse. When you find the right one, buy him no matter what he costs. For years, I was lucky. When Jake Long and I started out, I had one really good horse. I didn’t understand how to maintain my horse and make him last. When he needed relief in the middle of the summer, I would run out of horsepower. When Reno starts, my horsepower was already going downhill. It’s four quarters of a football game, and you can’t be out-mounted. Buying Carmen, the horse I ride from Reno through the end of the year, changed my game. I ride him from June to the end of the year,…

Just four days before RFD-TV’s The American gets underway in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, tie-down roper Reese Riemer, Stinnett, Texas, filed a lawsuit against The American’s organizers, Rural Media Group, Inc., and RMG Events LLC, for failing to pay his winnings from the 2015 American. The lawsuit seeks $600,000—the $517,000 Riemer says is owed to him for winning The American as a qualifier, plus damages, attorney fees and court costs. RMG Events issued Riemer the check March 4, 2015, but after rumors circulated that the qualifiers in the tie-down roping competition had made a deal to split the bonus pool regardless of the outcome, RFD-TV owner and founder Patrick Gottsch called Riemer, according to the suit filed yesterday. Riemer assured Gottsch that no deal had been made, but Gottsch…

KEEP THE HEAD HORSE WORKING Every horse is different and that’s what is so unique about roping and the horsemanship part of it. To become a good horseman, you have to know what the horse needs and do whatever you can to help him. Some horses need steer stopped, some need freed up, some need you to face them every time, some you need to make sure they keep pulling, some you have to score on all the time, some you don’t. I’ve had all of those kinds, and from what I’ve seen, that’s the easiest way to judge who is good with a horse: the people who have had long careers. Everybody in the business has seen ropers who only last as long as their good horse. Somebody with…

The place where we all begin as kids—learning to rope dummies, goats and dogs—is where I started trying to mimic the adults. I picked up a lot of things just by watching and trying to copy what I saw other people doing. I had a rope in my hand non-stop every day. It just became a part of me. Learning the mechanics of roping when you’re very young is the easiest way to go. I started roping things when I was 3 years old, and I’ve seen a lot of the young guys roping today grow up from that age, like the Tryan boys. Now their kids are small and they’re out there roping the dummy. A lot of the pros got started as young as I did. There’s almost…