Dear Roper,
Our February issue comes together at an odd time each year—over the holidays, going to press the first week of January. It’s a weird time, when we don’t know what day it is or where we are or how to spell our names after the chaos of Las Vegas followed up by holiday travel.
It’s always my hope that we somehow pull it off, though, and that this issue comes together just as seamlessly as the other 11 or so we put out annually. Our contributors make that possible, and we’re lucky to have them.
Barb Crabbe, DVM, owns Pacific Crest Sport Horse in Oregon City, Oregon, and has long been a contributor to our sister publication, Horse&Rider. I asked her if she’d be up for tackling some team roping topics a few months back, and she hit the ground running. Her first piece on Hay Cubes ran in our December 2019 issue, and this month she covers the hot topic of Kissing Spine on page 70.
Julie Mankin, a Wyoming-based writer who has worked for our magazines much longer than me, used her time this month to talk to the top headers in the game about horse size and whether or not it matters. Everyone had something different to say, and you can see where you fit in “Size Matters” on page 74.
Our associate editor G.R. Schiavino used her holiday break to visit the Jolly Ranch in Agate, Colorado, along with assistant editor and staff photographer Kaitlin Gustave, to check out the cowboy activities that go on at the home of the Working Ranch Cowboys Association 2019 World Champs. Her title, “Keeping it Western in Eastern Colorado” made me laugh, and you can find it on page 66.
The rest of the book is loaded with more of the helpful team roping tips to help you go about your days in the arena. Let me know what you like, and what you don’t, at cshaffer@aimmedia.com.
