There are lessons to be learned about life all around us, if we listen. Golf and roping are hard games that teach you humility, patience and self-control. Both are about managing your thoughts, making a game plan and sticking to that plan. One of the

It's no secret at this point that this year's The Patriot Event in Fort Worth was a screaming success—and a feat of impressive magnitude by the new team behind the event, which was only acquired by the Equine Network in October 2023. Not only did the

Cory Petska has earned a career-long reputation for riding good horses. The 2017 world champion heeler, who roped at 15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeos between 2003 and 2018, has a wife who shares his passion for raising, training and riding great ho

Dear Roper, I don't mean to brag, but I have a superpower. It's one that matters not at all to most of the rest of the world, but it serves me well here in this very specific job as editor of this magazine. I have an uncanny ability to remember every

We all love to rope, and it's the greatest time ever to be a team roper. As always, recreational ropers—as in, people who rope for fun—make up the majority of team ropers in the world. Guys who rope for a living are gunning at more money than ever be

Luke Brown was on the National Finals Rodeo bubble for the first time when he pulled into Pendleton, Oregon, in September 2008. It was the first year the South Carolina header had gutted it out the whole way to the Northwest run, and the then-34-year

at home with | Jake Barnes | Clay O | military salute | other gig | big break Q: The Jr Ironman Championship is three rounds in four events—tie-down roping, steer wrestling, heading and heeling. What's your favorite event? A: Probably the heeling. Q:

Justin Davis (the former NFR header from Texas) told his 15-year-old son Jace to “just have fun” before the 5 header rode into the heading box for November's Riata Buckle #14.5 short round. After all, Jace and longtime family friend Colby Lovell were

Freeze Frame with Hunter Koch Photo by Jamie Arviso Copy by Taylor Vollin SITUATION: 2024 The American four-man round TIME: 4.94 seconds PAYOUT: $100,000 a man We were first out, so we couldn't really strategize too much. We knew the steer we had, an

Aborn-and-raised Coloradan turned Utahn, Ben Jordan and his 13 brothers and sisters grew up under the roof of his father, who ran a repair business. “I worked in the business all growing up,” said Jordan, 32. “My mom died when I was really young … so

Do you worry about the horse market in election years, and what do you think we should expect with 2024? You know, honestly, I think since COVID and all that crap, I think people just gave up on politics totally. And said, ‘You know what, I'm going t

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| association news | industry news | Global Handicaps is the arm of the Global Event Management System (GEMS) that analyzes performance data to set team roper handicaps. This system analyzes over 350,000 teams per year on $100 million in prize money.

Kory Koontz has made some of the best-ever heel horses. And he did it without an arena at his house for 19 of the 22 NFRs he made. As a little kid, I got to where I could rope the horns. I could get to where I needed to be, or I could make it work by

Logan Medlin won the College National Finals Rodeo in 2013, but he didn't make his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo until 2020. Along the way, he learned a lot of lessons about horsemanship. Here's a before and after of Medlin getting to the next

Miles Baker had a career weekend at the Buckeye, Arizona, Royal Crown Futurity this February, with his horses bringing home more than $83,000 in three days. Baker won the 4-&-Under Heeling on Dasco Cattle’s Lil Bit O Cash and the 6-&-Under Heading on

From Brazile and Patrick Smith’s Legend DVD, this video takes you through Trevor Brazile’s full philosophy on tuning a head horse in a variety of scenarios, with a strong emphasis on the most overlooked part of a run: the face. Brazile explains his f

Cody Johnson and Ricky Oliver won the Ariat World Series of Team Roping's #7 Qualifier in Hamilton, Texas, Feb. 18, at the Circle T Arena, produced by Mathews Land and Cattle. The Madisonville, Texas, and Huntsville, Texas, team pocketed $13,060 for

Hunter Koch heeled the short round steer in 4.5 seconds behind Cody Snow at Tucson, Arizona's La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros Rodeo to win the final round and the average with a 10.3 on two. They won $512 each for their seventh-place split in the first rou

Mike Kunzler piloted the Woody Be Tuff son Celtic Tuff to his third major Intermediate Heading title, while Logan Anseth jump-rode Royal Crown stallion Cashing N My Diamond by Time For The Diamond to the Intermediate heeling win this year at the Roya

Dear Roper, This is another of our Horse Market special issues, with content sprinkled throughout that highlights the booming rope horse industry. And this might be one of my favorite mixes of stories on the market yet. In Kendra Santos’ Horsepower d

Q: Where is Bolivar, Tennessee, and what’s it like where you grew up? A: Bolivar’s in West Tennessee, an hour east of Memphis and about 30 miles north of Mississippi. Tennessee’s a beautiful state, and Bolivar has a lot of green grass and trees. My f

Freeze Frame with Derrick Begay Derrick Begay Breaks Down Finals Run at San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo SITUATION: Short-round steer, 2024 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo TIME: 3.8 seconds PAYOUT: $12,500 a man in the round, $22,250 a man total On thos

Kaleb Driggers announced Feb. 13 the retirement of Remis Gays On Ofadoc, the bay gelding he calls Cuervo that carried him to his first gold buckle in 2021 and second in 2022. Cuervo, the 2007 gelding by Reminic N Dunit out of FLS Oaks Classy Lady by

At the age of 16, Judy Wagner and her seven younger siblings lost their father in a December tractor accident on their Western Montana ranch. “That Christmas, I learned firsthand that the cows don’t know it’s Christmas,” Wagner remembered. “So, my ma