THE ROPING LIFE
“I won my first belt buckle in 1946. I was a junior in high school.”
In March, Red Rightsell was relaxing in his chair, awaiting warmer weather and the opportunity to go to the next roping.
“It’s been so cold this winter,” he said, “but we’re getting the horses in shape and trying to get everything ready to go.”
Rightsell is a natural conversationalist, humble in his accomplishments, yet eager to talk about all things roping. Without being told his birthday, it’d be hard to imagine he’s in his 90s. His roping career began when a family moved to his Patterson, California, hometown.
“The kids were roping and I’d just seen what they were doing and I tried to copy that,” Rightsell explained. “They had a high school rodeo and I won the all-around and the calf roping. That was my first buckle.”
The first of many. Rightsell took a job on a ranch in high school and
