Breaking It Down
Speed Williams
The 31st Annual George Strait Team Roping Classic, held March 9th & 10th, started out with 690 teams this year. This is by far the best paying open roping of the year with $180,000 in cash and prizes per man for first place.
Read more: A sport where we fail more than we succeed Add new comment
This month we’re going to talk about hauling green horses and some things that can give you a better chance at winning on them. This subject is dear to me this month because this is exactly what I’ve had to do lately, since my three first-string horses are all on the injured reserve list. I rode Sheriff at the Odessa rodeo, his second rodeo ever. I rode a seventeen-year-old green horse, Doc, at the Ft. Worth rodeo.
Brad [Culpepper] and I just finished our first week of competition in 2013. We went to open ropings in Andrews and Odessa, the rodeo in Odessa, and the USTRC roping in Waco. Since the horses I had planned to rope are all on the “injured reserve” list, I had the luxury of starting a green horse, Sheriff, at the rodeo. Sheriff is a full brother to Two Moons, one of my better horses.
Riding a green horse at the rodeos is pretty tricky. You have to figure out how to get in the arena and expose him to the sights like banners, lights, etc. before you actually compete.
We just got home from the National Finals. I want to thank MGM Grand for taking such good care of me during my stay in Las Vegas. Every year MGM offers some terrific NFR packages that include hotel accommodations and plaza seats at the rodeo. If you’re planning on going next year, it’s a fantastic deal that’s tough to beat.
I was at the Thomas & Mack nine of the 10 rounds, and yes, sitting in the stands it looks much easier than it actually is. Lots of people thought the team roping was pretty soft. But when teams make runs of 4.3, 4.4, or 4.5 and not win much, it causes others to try to be 3-seconds. And when you try to make a 3-second run, your catching percentage decreases dramatically.