Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i The Team Roping Journal

Dear Roper, This marks our first Horse Market Special Issue—our response to the growth we’re seeing in the horse market that I’ve written about in this letter more times than I can count. Rather than just dedicating one section of the magazine to this subject, you’ll find that most of the stories throughout these pages have a horse-centric slant. When we did our Breeder’s Guide in February this year, we ran a story I wrote called “Why the Numbers Matter,” emphasizing the importance of tracking rope-horse earnings across recreational and professional team roping. In that story, Denny Gentry said: “I’m seeing first-hand what they couldn’t do and what they had to do to get recognition and to develop the bloodlines…I’m amazed at how little I knew about such a critical…

| At the Barrier | news Trevor Brazile, the 26-time world champion cowboy, and Equinety, the industry-leading amino acid supplement, announced a partnership that will take the health of the sport’s elite horse program to the next level. The long-term partnership means the horses in the Relentless Remuda program— from broodmares to prospects in training to aged horses expected to compete at the highest levels—will benefit from an Equinety XL and Equinety Ultimate OEC regimen. Equinety XL’s eight amino acids promote cellular repair, improving muscle strength and recovery and maximizing performance through cellular regeneration. Equinety Ultimate OEC will improve the cardiovascular and gastric health of the Relentless Remuda, increasing immune function and improving hair and coat health. “Everyone thinks older horses are the ones that need supplements like this most,”…

Ropers | at home with | Jake | Clay O | icons | other gig | Q: You grew up in California with a group of kids who went on to do big things in rodeo. You, Broc Cresta, Spencer Mitchell and Justin Davis were always pretty tight, weren’t you? A: Yes, we were all really tight and close friends growing up. We lived in different areas, but we always hung out together. All we wanted to do growing up was make the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) and be successful. When we made the NFR together, it meant a lot. Q: Losing Broc left a huge hole in all your hearts, didn’t it? A: For sure. I still think about Broc every day—about stuff we did together, and old stories.…

In the years since Tom Mattart’s 1936 Lucky Blanton and his get began dominating California’s famed arenas and local indoors alike, the written word has been largely devoted to the well-minded, hossy hindquartered AQHA stud, but the man atop the horse helped develop the rope horse we know today. “Tom bought Lucky Blanton at a claimer’s race” Joyce Vieira said. “He took him to his 4,000-acre ranch in Monterey and he trained him to be a calf roping horse and a team roping horse.” Vieira, 82, began riding horses for Mattart—her senior by 28 years, and then married to a woman named Phyllis—when she was a teenager. The daughter of Joseph and Dorothy Vieira, who remarried later to Edward Mosby, grew up working their famed indoor, the Mosby Arena. “The…

| Competitive Edge | next level Steer Control When a steer steps into you, you’ve got to make sure your rope is tight between your saddle horn and the steer’s head to give your heeler a fair read through the corner. Here’s how. BEFORE THE TURN As you’re still going down the arena, getting the rope tight between your horn and the steer’s horns is what gives the heeler a read on the turn and the steer’s hops. The easiest way to do it is if your horse rates off and you match pace with the steer. When you dally, you can use your horse’s rate to pick the steer up and get that rope tight. It gets a little more advanced if you’re on the gain or you reach…

“I can’t even put it into words to do this in front of my family and my hometown. $100,000 is life changing for my family. We live in a single-wide, and we’ve outgrown it with three kids. We’re trying to get us a place—either bought or built—and this money couldn’t have come at a better time. To be able to put it to good use and put it towards my family is a blessing.” — Cody Doescher on Season 6 of “The Score,” after becoming the first Oklahoma native to win the Cinch Timed Event Championship at the Lazy E Arena this March in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Available anywhere you stream podcasts.…

At the Barrier | industry news | new products | You might see: “Global Numbers or Global Handicaps used" on plenty of roping ads. But many of these ropings are only making this claim to set a baseline for the ropers who are competing, when in fact, they are using other roping software not tied to any kind of database—therefore, they cannot verify your Global Handicap number without the roper’s assistance. This allows the producer of these one-off, non-Global ropings to dictate and do as they please. “We obviously have a problem with bait-and-switch but have a bigger problem that they falsely give the impression that their handicaps are Global Handicaps,” John Johnson, President of USTRC, said. “It gets ropers to show up and get beat by ropers who, for…

| Ropers | other gig When Sam Burt was born eight weeks premature on May 31, 1993, it took just days for the doctors to discover the chromosomal anomalies that had only been documented in five other cases throughout the world. Now, 30 years later and a decade since his March passing, Sam remains a beacon of change and inspiration for people of all abilities. “I try not to let the day hold the power,” said Sam’s mom, Deborah, of the 10year milestone. “Some days it does and, some days, it doesn’t.” Putting a Posse Together Deborah shifts the conversation to the founding of Sam’s Posse in 2015— the non-profit she and her husband Buck operate with the mission “to create accessible and inclusive activities and play spaces for individuals…

QUITTING ON A MISS Can you quit your practice session on a miss? You bet. Getting over yourself You have to be aware enough as a horseman to quit even when you don’t want to. Horsemanship first When your horse doesn’t do anything wrong but you miss, that means it’s time to quit the horse on a good note. If your roping ability lets you down, you can’t just keep roping on a young horse—you have to be better the next time you get on. Regroup If your roping’s letting you down, go ahead and rope the heading dummy, but don’t make another run on a young horse when he’s trying to do right. Want more from the legendary J.D. Yates? Get into the practice pen with Dick, J.D. and…

Every once in a while, we all need to take a leap of faith. That’s exactly what Levi Lord did when he bought his bay horse Birdie from Jake Minor before ever running a steer on him. “I took a pretty good gamble buying Birdie without riding him, but I watched Jake ride him at all 75 rodeos last year, and he never really got in a bad spot in any setup, from Cheyenne (Wyoming) to Nampa (Idaho),” said now two-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo heeler Lord, who roped with Nelson Wyatt at NFR 2020 and Jr Dees at the 2022 NFR last December. “He’s just such a versatile horse, and I never saw Birdie cost Jake. “Jake had Birdie up in Idaho last fall, and was thinking of selling…

Canyon, Texas’ Brooke and Rodey Wilson, of Wilson Cattle Co., quickly sold their 8-year-old red roan gelding TRR Kadabra Kat, known as Honkey Tonk, with the drop of the gavel from renowned auctioneer Steve Friskup, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at $160,000—making him the high-seller of The Horse Sale at Rancho Rio, presented by Gold Buckle Beer. This sale makes for the Wilsons’ second highest selling horse of their careers. Their top seller was at this very sale in 2022, when they sold Sportin Roscoe, better known as South Point, for $200,000. “I was nervous,” Brooke said. “I knew we would get to over $100,000 just by the way people were talking, but I didn’t know where we would end up.” The lucky buyer was Javier Rodriguez, of Las Vegas,…

Competitive Edge 5 flat Kaleb Driggers has had a collection of the best horses of his generation, all with one common denominator: they could score. I have learned to overcome a lot with my rope and my riding, but one thing I have needed across every horse in my career is the ability to score. Each horse has brought special elements to the table beyond that, but from my rookie year in 2009 to today, these great horses are what have shaped my career. CHAMP Champ was the OG, and I wonder to myself all the time if he was as great as I thought he was or if I just didn’t know then what I do now. I’ve had several people tell me how good he was, so I’m going…

1. SMOOTHING OUT YOUR HEEL HORSE'S STOP with Dakota Kirchenschlager Kirchenschlager is the reigning Riata Buckle heeling champ, and he’s made three NFRs on the heel side riding horses he made himself. Now, Kirchenschlager’s training program focuses on futurity horses, and he gets to work on finetuning the look and feel of his horses’ finish. In this video, Kirchenschlager works on collection through the run to keep his horse’s front end pedaling through the stop. 2. RODEO HEAD HORSE PRACTICE SESSION with Nick Sartain Filmed just 12 hours after the last round of the 2022 Prairie Circuit Finals, Sartain’s Rodeo Head Horse Practice Session covers the struggles that many ropers face with their horses after making high intensity runs, and then trying to dial the energy back down. In this…

Riata Buckle Eligibility/Enrollment fees Horses sired by Riata Buckle stallions are eligible as long as they are nominated. Horses must be nominated annually by Aug. 1 for $200 to stay enrolled in the program, starting with the year they are born, with a late enrollment fee of $300 by Dec. 1. Format Time only, jackpot-style Events Team roping, breakaway roping Divisions Team Roping: Five divisions including Pro Futurity (5 & Under) with a 4-year-old Incentive, #14.5 Futurity (5 & Under) with #13.5 Cash Incentive, #12.5 All Age with Futurity Incentive, #10.5 All Age with 6 & Under Incentive, #9.5 All Age, #10.5 Junior with #9.5 Incentive. Breakaway Roping: to be announced for 2023. 2023 Dates/Locations Nov. 2-4; Guthrie, Oklahoma Payout $2.5 million for 2023 Entry Fees $500 per roper/horse per…