Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i The Team Roping Journal

By the grace of God, there are still men and women who make their living in the saddle. Unfortunately for us at Spin To Win Rodeo, editor Bob Welch is heading back to that life after only cowboying part-time while he captained this ship for the last 16½ years. In a sometimes-fly-by-night industry like rodeo, Bob’s steady hand and dedication to the Cowboy Code set him apart, something you undoubtedly noticed by the way he handled controversy on these pages over the years. The guy has perspective, and that perspective tempered his writing and taught those of us who worked with and for him to take a deep breath and remember that life’s about a lot more than a Monday morning deadline or an all-night drive between Salt Lake and…

Clay Tryan and Travis Graves teamed up to win the Robertson Hill Ranch Open Showdown, besting 155 other teams over five head with a time of 33.24 seconds, worth $11,000 a man May 10 in Perrin, Texas. Robertson Hill Ranch’s Austin Robertson organized the roping to benefit the Texas Pythian Home for Children in Weatherford. “With 150 teams, it was pretty tough,” Tryan said. “It was good to finally win something.” The jackpot was tough enough both Tryan and Graves rode their best mounts—18-year-old AQHA/PRCA Head Horse of the Year Dew and 17-year-old Manny—for the five head, pick-one-draw-one, enter twice roping. “It was a hard set up,” Graves said. “The steers ran really hard and were pretty wild. They were hard to heel. It felt like the way the Wildfire…

Colorado Springs’ Pikes Peak or Bust is Brit Ellerman’s bread and butter. In 2014, he and cousin Chad Wahlert won second in the Norris Penrose Arena, and in 2015 he brought home the bacon with long-time friend Marcus Banister. Ellerman, who is roping with fellow Coloradan TJ Watts in 2017, was on his permit when he won nearly $8,000 at Cinch’s Pikes Peak or Bust in 2015 aboard his then 9-year-old bay gelding, Duke. Ellerman and Banister won their set, the semifinals and then got to choose their steer in the shoot-out round. “It came down to the Finals between Blaster (Ty Blasingame) and JW (Borrego) and Trice Watts and Chad (Wahlert),” Ellerman said. “I picked the steer that tried a little bit. The other two were a little slow.…

BUILDING A RODEO RUN Erich Rogers has helped set himself and partner Cory Petska up for their fifth consecutive trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as a team before the summer run even gets underway. They’ve capitalized on opportunities from Odessa, Texas’ Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo to Kissimmee, Florida’s Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo, using a formula for a straight and fast run that they’ve honed together in Petska’s practice pen in Marana, Ariz., over the last five years. Although Rogers can reach with the best of them, he sticks to taking a higher-percentage shot running to the steer, while Petska fires on the corner. Here, Rogers breaks down how their trademark run has put them near the top of the PRCA world standings. We did well to…

When I roped with Tee I wasn’t mounted as good as I needed to be, and he wasn’t mounted as good as he wanted to be, either. But we were very successful. We went into the 1984 (National) Finals (Rodeo) with a chance to win the championship, but we didn’t dominate. It boiled down to horsepower more than anything. The next year, in 1985, is when I started roping with Jake (Barnes). When we got together, we were on equal footing. We were so similar in our raising, our thinking, our attitude and our goals. Everything coincided. We both got mounted good, we went on a run and we did dominate. When you’re winning, communication and getting along good with your partner is easy. But there are times when it’s…

In 1916, a stocky colt of mixed parentage was born on Jim McNab’s Cottonwood Ranch in Alberta, Canada. The coal-black horse was named Midnight, and he would eventually be known as one of the greatest bucking horses of all time. From the start, it was evident Midnight would never be a ranch horse thanks to his proclivity for throwing riders. Capitalizing on his horse’s talent for dismounting cowboys, McNab entered Midnight in local rodeos, and he soon dominated the circuit. Though gentle on the ground, Midnight was a four-legged tornado when turned from the chutes and he quickly gained a reputation as a horse no one could ride—though the best tried. As Midnight campaigned at rodeos across Canada and the United States—receiving marquee billing and crowds worthy of rock stars—the…

Number and End: 5 plus, both. Association of Preference: Definitely the World Series of Team Roping. We do many of the World Series ropings because we love the pay out and the people, and also, as I’ve gotten a little bit older, it’s nice to be able to get away from the younger crowd. Rope of Choice: Fast Back Biggest Win: It was at the USTRC Finals about 20 years. We won about $28,000. How You Got Into Roping: Since we were young kids, my five brothers and I, we always rodeoed with my dad. We rode bulls, saddle broncs, bareback horses, and of course we team roped, but he said if we wanted to continue to ride roughstock we needed to rope. So we kept roping, and you know…

The roping world outside of Texas first got to know Justin Davis when he and Cole Davison cracked out at their first Bob Feist Invitational in 2010, and Davis did so aboard his blond bomber, then-18-year-old Hammer. Hammer would help Davis attract the attention of none other than Clay O’Brien Cooper, and the Fisher-ranch-bred horse would set the wheels in motion for Davis’ career to take off. Justin’s dad, Tommy, bought the gelding from family friend Gary Thornton and used him as a ranch horse before starting his heading career. “They’d ranched, run barrels and tried calf roping a little bit on him,” Davis said. “He was a run-off when he was younger. There were times I could pull as hard as I wanted to, but it was his program…

Long known as one of America’s most prestigious cowboy events, the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo happens every spring when cowboys typically are turning the page with a new partner and putting springtime troubles behind them as they impatiently await rodeo’s big summer run. The Guymon tradition in early May of testing skilled ropers on hornless cattle in the enormous, historic Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena also typically involves wind and/or wet spring conditions. The steers have horns at Guymon these days, but are still never-been-touched fresh. Plus, as slack began for the rodeo’s 85th edition on May 5-7, the arena was pure slop. As for the mud, “I love it,” said eight-time NFR header Charly Crawford, who with Joseph Harrison would tie for the average title and earn $3,389…