Breaking It Down
Speed Williams
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
What an amazing opportunity for cowboys and cowgirls in all disciplines. It’s nice not to have to rodeo all year trying to make the finals. I can’t say the American Rodeo hasn’t had its share of growing pains and format changes. Sometimes when you’re trying to make things better, it can be a struggle to find what works and what doesn’t. Below is a breakdown of the qualifying process.
This year there are three regions in the American qualifying system, East (Lexington, KY), Central (Tulsa, OK), and West (Heber, UT). Initially there are 54 qualifying events where contestants compete for the opportunity to advance to the Regional Semi-Finals.
Read more: Trying to Qualify for The American Rodeo Add new comment
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
First, I would like to congratulate Kaleb and Junior for winning another world title. It can be hard to do when you come in with a major lead. They have to be happy they had that lead because Tanner Tomlinson put on a show at the NFR this year. He did not look like a rookie at all, and I thought he did an outstanding job heading and setting up steers for Patrick to heel. It was an impressive display of heading.
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
From the very beginning, from a very young age, while teaching my son to rope I stressed the fundamentals of riding correctly. I taught him to heel steers very close to him because it gave him more time to dally. But to heel steers that close, you must use your left hand and have control of your horse.
By Speed Williams
speedroping.com
It feels like old times as Gabe and I head to Gillette for the National High School Finals. He and his partner, Mason Vaculin, are the current Texas High School Rodeo state champions. We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us. We had a school in Nebraska on July 14 & 15. We got to watch Hali rope on the 16th. Gabe roped at nationals on the 18th and then we headed to Salt Lake City for the WCRA rodeo on the 20th. We were in Laramie, Wyoming on the 21st for an Open American qualifier. The next day he roped his second steer at nationals, followed by the short round on the 23rd. The plan [at press time] was to make the short round at Salt Lake City on the 25th.