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 department on page 64, she explores Jake Cooper’s growing horse program, with a special emphasis on the mares he’s choosing to cross with his all-star futurity stallion, Reys Of Pep. Cooper is one of the many NFR cowboys making the move to horse breeder, jumping into the rope horse business with both feet alongside partner Kaleb Driggers. 

Julie Mankin took a deep dive into Look At Her Glo on page 68, the dam or granddam to so many great horses. She’s truly the matriarch of the modern rope horse, and she deserves the ink on these pages. 

Julie was ahead of schedule on that feature, so when Brandon Gonzales won the Clay Logan Open as Erich Rogers’ draw partner, we also put her on that story, because it absolutely needed the telling as she gives it on page 82. 

Those are the big ones, but there’s plenty more on these 148 pages. In usual fashion, the staff at The Team Roping Journal is busy preparing for livestreams like the Cinch Timed Event Championship and the Lone Star Shootout, but we’re not slacking in any other area, either. We’re recording podcasts like “The Score” and “The Breakdown” (which now alternates between breakaway roping and calf roping) and keeping the rodeo world up-to-date hourly across teamropingjournal.com, breakawayropingjournal.com and calfroping.com. And we’re doing it with all the passion in the world for this whole sport. Thanks for hanging with us, wherever you’re finding our stories. 

Chelsea