Innehållsförteckning för August 2023 från The Team Roping Journal

Dear Roper, I've got to admit—I've been distracted lately. I started a project a few months ago that's got me mining the Spin To Win Rodeo archives, pulling old stories and images off CDs that had sat in binders collecting dust for decades. Every day, I pull a disk out of a sleeve, throw it in my drive, and wait— impatiently—for the files to transfer. It takes about 20 minutes, and while I wait, I type a story, make a phone call or take a meeting. But when the computer dings that the files are officially dropped onto the drive so I can open them, I rush over to flip through each one. I wasn't raised in the sport of team roping, of course, so a lot of these images…

What happens when you put Steve Orth in a futurity in his hometown on the most dependable colt in his barn? The longtime trainer from Guthrie, Oklahoma, won the American Rope Horse Futurity Association's Redbud Spectacular June 4 heeling futurity, besting last year's champ, Colby Lovell, and the likes of Kollin VonAhn and Ryan Motes—twice. Because he also won second. Plus, he won the Pre-Futurity for 4-yearolds on a third young horse. Orth's mounts bagged a total of $29,913 in Oklahoma City. Orth was high callback after three steers aboard David Ferrell's 6-year-old Spooks Morning Joe, by Wimpyneedsacocktail out of Pep N Spook by Smart Spook, and was third-high back on Sara Hudson's 5-year-old, The Spook Dun Time, by Shining Spark out of Ice Cold Dunit. When the dust cleared,…

Rodeo couldn't ask for bigger fans or better advocates than a pair of team roping Brandons from Arizona who've built their own successful businesses. Since the days Brandon Shelton dated Brandon Brown's sister back in high school, Shelton has served as a friend and mentor to the younger Brown. Today, both are married entrepreneurs whose kids are playing every youth sport at the highest level. That doesn't leave a lot of time for the buddies to jackpot, but they do like to rope when possible at their local arena in Tolleson, Arizona. They started calling the arena the “Tolleson Mack” as a play on “Thomas & Mack”—the Las Vegas home of the NFR—because guys like Matt Sherwood and Cesar de la Cruz have been known to practice there. In fact,…

{ Vital Stats } AGE: 34 ROPE: Powerline Lite S by Classic HOME: Roosevelt, Utah NFR QUALIFICATIONS: 5 (3 heading, 2 tie-down roping) Our practice sessions at A&C Racing and Roping are pretty focused on the head side. In fact, most of the time we're roping, we don't have a heeler. We work a lot on getting our horses' frames consistent, keeping them responsive. Each practice is targeted to each horse and, in the photos on these pages, I'm focusing on a future rodeo horse—not a show horse—that wants to be free and pushy. I use a breakaway to get him focusing on his position to the steer and his frame going down the pen. THEORY This whole session, I was making sure this horse was coming back to me. I'm trying…

On the most basic level, the job of a head horse is fundamentally the same no matter who is in the saddle—score, rate, take hold of the steer, move off the corner and face. But are there certain traits that can make that horse a better fit for lowered-numbered ropers? Ask both those ropers themselves or the folks who teach and you'll get a resounding yes. For experts Ryan Motes and Travis Woodard—both horse trainers, clinicians and veterans of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo—there are just two key things to look for when in the market to buy: gentle and seasoned. For more traits to consider, low-numbered ropers Frank McCarthy and Liz Hirdes threw their preferences into the conversation with Motes and Woodard to make our top 10. 1) CALM…

At the Barrier | association news | industry news | The Riata Buckle Stallion Incentive has locked itself in as the official stallion incentive program of the Ariat World Series of Team Roping, coming on as the event's title sponsor for the 2023 Finale's Open division in Las Vegas. The Riata Buckle, already a partner with WSTR and Equine Network through its Alliance and Earnings Bonus Ropings, conducts its second annual championship event Nov. 2–5, 2023, in Guthrie, Oklahoma's Lazy E Arena, paying out $2.5 million to ropers riding offspring of the program's enrolled stallions. “When the World Series of Team Roping allowed the Riata Buckle Championship to be the last Open World Series of Team Roping qualifier for the 2023 season, it made sense to jump in as the…

Under the saddle of his trainer Cade Rice, Sevens Star Glo captured the Open Heeling title, bringing the 2017 stallion's lifetime earnings to $58,253 and adding another title to his illustrious resume, which already includes the 2022 ARHFA World Championship. For Open Heading champion CFR Decada 052, the championship was her first and a long time coming, according to her trainer Casey Hicks. “I'm really excited for her to get a win, finally,” he emphasized. “She won second at this futurity last year—I actually won it on another horse, so I won first and second— but this is our breakthrough win.” Held June 17–18, 2023, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Cornhusker Classic is the fourth stop on the ARHFA's 2023 calendar. Behind PRCA World Champion Colby Lovell, Rice and Sevens Star…

In one of the most anticipated events of the year, Cody Ohl matched Shad Mayfield on Ohl's home turf over 10 head in early June, and Roping.com was on site to capture all the action. The match pitted the sixtime World Champion Ohl against the 2020 World Champion Mayfield in Hico, Texas, marking the first time the two have matched. They came together in competition and raised more than $25,000 for Corey Carrington, who battles spinal stenosis and has been Mayfield's driver for much of his career. Roping.com donated 25% of the proceeds from memberships sold through the match to Carrington as well. Another charitable campaign Roping.com supports through livesstreaming is Charly Crawford's American Military Celebration school for military veterans and first responders. Want more tie-down action? Roping.com is now…

“It really bothered me when I missed. I wish I would've had more mental training back then because I lived or died on the catch. If I caught, I would feel so good, and I was happy and good to be around. But if I missed, I was frustrated, and I was angry and I was not good to be around. You could talk to me and I would just not have a good attitude. I would just be upset, and that's no way to be. Nowadays, when I see a little bit of frustration with some of the guys I'm helping with their roping, I try to talk them down off the ledge a little bit. I want to be the guy I needed back then to just talk…

Ropers | at home with | Jake | Clay O | breaks | other gig | resistol jr. | cinch ladies Q: You finished 20th in the world last year roping with Jake Cooper Clay. Who are you roping with in 2023? A: I'm roping Curry Kirchner. We started roping right after the BFI in May. Earlier this year, I roped with Pedro Egurrola, Jake Clay, Tanner James and Matt Sherwood at the BFI. Q: Is it true you weren't planning to rodeo hard this year? Why was that, and what happened to change your mind? A: Yes, that's true. And I'm still not planning to rodeo hard. I have some little rodeo trips planned around training and the horse shows at home. Q: You're on pace to make your…

{ Vital Stats } YEAR: 2005 ROPING: USTRC's Cinch National Finals of Team Roping US Open PAYOUT: $78,600 TIME: 43.01 seconds on six head SECOND PLACE: Mikey Fletcher and Cole Bigbee Matt Sherwood was a littleknown circuit cowboy raising a big family in Queen Creek, Arizona, and Travis Graves was a 21-year-old broke kid from Jay, Oklahoma, when the pair teamed up to smoke all the best teams in the world with a time of 43.01 seconds on six head, splitting $78,600. For Sherwood, the win came after a brutal summer on the rodeo trail that saw him finish 26th with only $28,155 won. “I was bouncing around with different partners at the time,” Sherwood, now 53, said. “And I was roping with Walt Woodard the next year, but he had to…

Justin Davis has been a heavy hitter in the horsepower department his whole career. The Cottonwood, California cowboy's rodeo remuda has included fourlegged hits the likes of Slim Shady, Lil Kim and Shakira. The 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo heeler is a 35-yearold comeback kid in 2023, and he's been busy making headlines on a horse with no mention of music. His name is Pocket, and he's given Davis high hopes for a return trip to Vegas in December. The 10-year-old red roan's registered name is One Two Many, and has Peptoboonsmal and CD Olena in his family tree. Pocket actually belongs to Davis's aunt and uncle, Tracy and Allen Gill of Palo Cedro, California. Tracy is Justin's mom Terri's sister (Terri and Jeff Davis own Four Star Rodeo Company),…