Dear Roper,

I planned to put the biggest winner of The Patriot week on the cover of this issue, but when 19-year-old Ketch Kelton won the Cinch Timed Event Championship, my heart hurt a little bit that I wasn’t putting him on the front page for this massive accomplishment. 

But luckily, in true Ketch Kelton fashion, he took care of that for me when he won the Hooey JR Patriot in Fort Worth with Michael Calmelat, blasting their steer in 3.25 seconds (and another in 3.26 with Denton Dunning one run earlier).  

This is the second-straight May issue with Kelton on the cover, because in 2024 he went on a tear and dominated across the JR Ironman, placed at the BFI and won the Patriot, too. This “kid” is a whole lot of fun, and we’ve got a front row seat to the beginning of his journey. 

Kelton is foregoing buying his PRCA card to focus on finishing college and compiling head horses. He tells us he finds his joy and purpose riding young horses at home—similar to those who are signing up for the brand-new rope-horse training program at Lamar Community College—profiled on page 65 by Julie Mankin. 

The rest of the issue is also packed with big wins—at every single level. Because that’s what makes team roping great: the masses of people, across all walks of life and skillsets, who pick up a rope and spend their free time in the arena. 

To that end, we are constantly evolving to meet those people’s needs, and this month we’re trying a new section out: Practice Pen. (I know, the name is wildly original.) We tagged along with Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp to document a normal practice session with the reigning World Champs to really dive deep into how they approach team building at home. It’s well worth the read. 

There’s lots more jam-packed in these pages, so spend some time with this one. 

See you somewhere on the road this summer, 

Chelsea