Story and photos by Pam Gamble
January 15 and 16 brought a return of team roping to the Agricenter Show Place Arena. The weather was chilly, but the action inside the arena heated things up quickly. Many of the competitors removed their long sleeve western shirts and jackets and wore T-shirts. The roping started at 9:00 a.m. and continued until after 7:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
A rapid-fire succession of heading and heeling teams lined up to take their multiple runs at the steers. After giving the steer a head start, called the barrier distance, the ropers gave chase. First out of the chute were the headers who roped the head or horns, and after securing the rope to the saddle-horn (called dallying), turned the steer to the left. Then the heelers roped the steer's back legs and dallied their ropes to stop the clock.
The flagman, Clint Moore, an arena judge, dropped the flag to stop the clock when both horses faced the steer and the ropes were taut. If only one hind leg was roped, a five second penalty was assessed. Of course, the consistently fastest ropers won with the action usually taking no more than 15 seconds and sometimes as little as five.
The fast sport of team roping is the only rodeo event where men and women compete equally together in both single gender and mixed gender teams. Team members could be prearranged or picked by a computer depending on the division.
The event brought teams from all over the region. Dustin Murphy from Jonesboro, Arkansas won the Chevrolet truck. Cody Warner from Louisville, Mississippi, Heath Sanders from Leachville, Arkansas, and Preston Crager from Columbia, Tennessee each won $1,000. Rodney Worrell from Alabama, Jim Burke and Bruce Barnett from Missouri tied and came away with $200 each. Lindsey Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas with her horse, Ricky Bobby, was one of the big winners and the biggest winning female roper, taking home $500 in the truck roping division. Other competitors were from Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina. Complete results can be viewed at www.jx2events.com.
January 15 and 16 brought a return of team roping to the Agricenter Show Place Arena. The weather was chilly, but the action inside the arena heated things up quickly. Many of the competitors removed their long sleeve western shirts and jackets and wore T-shirts. The roping started at 9:00 a.m. and continued until after 7:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
A rapid-fire succession of heading and heeling teams lined up to take their multiple runs at the steers. After giving the steer a head start, called the barrier distance, the ropers gave chase. First out of the chute were the headers who roped the head or horns, and after securing the rope to the saddle-horn (called dallying), turned the steer to the left. Then the heelers roped the steer's back legs and dallied their ropes to stop the clock.
The flagman, Clint Moore, an arena judge, dropped the flag to stop the clock when both horses faced the steer and the ropes were taut. If only one hind leg was roped, a five second penalty was assessed. Of course, the consistently fastest ropers won with the action usually taking no more than 15 seconds and sometimes as little as five.
The fast sport of team roping is the only rodeo event where men and women compete equally together in both single gender and mixed gender teams. Team members could be prearranged or picked by a computer depending on the division.
The event brought teams from all over the region. Dustin Murphy from Jonesboro, Arkansas won the Chevrolet truck. Cody Warner from Louisville, Mississippi, Heath Sanders from Leachville, Arkansas, and Preston Crager from Columbia, Tennessee each won $1,000. Rodney Worrell from Alabama, Jim Burke and Bruce Barnett from Missouri tied and came away with $200 each. Lindsey Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas with her horse, Ricky Bobby, was one of the big winners and the biggest winning female roper, taking home $500 in the truck roping division. Other competitors were from Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina. Complete results can be viewed at www.jx2events.com.
