The Team Roping Journal was built around good story telling, and it’s something our stand-out staff strives for every single day on this website and every month in the print magazine that arrives in your mailbox. These are just a few of the stories that come to mind when I think of how thankful I am to have the job I do, with the people I know, in the industry I love.
10. Branding with Air Force Academy Cadets and Wounded Warriors
We were there when the Norris and Brazile family welcomed Air Force Academy cadets and Wounded Warriors into the branding pen this spring.
It’s always a privilege to be in the presence of greatness. Dick Yates is the patriarch of the Pueblo, Colorado-based rodeo family that also includes son J.D., daughter Kelly, grandson Trey, and matriarch Jan, who’s the glue that holds them all together. Dick, who’s 81 now, roped with J.D. at 13 Wrangler National Finals Rodeos starting in 1975, when J.D. became the youngest NFR cowboy of all time at 15 years, 4 months. In 1984, Dick, Kelly, and J.D. became the only father-daughter-son trio ever to compete at the Finals the same year.
Derrick Begay, Ryan Motes, Coleman Proctor, and Lane Santos Karney and other cowboys step up to help at Sam’s Posse’s Exceptional Rodeo at the Poway’s Rodeo during the last weekend of rodeo’s regular season.
7. Where Are They Now? Part 1 and Part 2
Some of the greatest horses to ever play the game are tucked away in pastures across the country, being pampered and loved in their old age. Just where are these greats, and what are their stories?
6. The Cowboy Operation: Dr. Jason Stoneback
Colorado’s cowboy doctor Jason Stoneback partners with the team roping community to bring joy and rodeo to his kid patients at Denver’s Children’s Hospital Colorado.
5. #WINNING with Bobbi Williams
Game-changer Bobbi Williams helped usher in a new era in team roping in more ways than one.
4. Begay, Rogers, and Tsinigine Host Free 7G Foundation Roping School in Round Rock, Arizona
Derrick Begay, Erich Rogers, and Aaron Tsinigine hosted the 7G Foundation Roping School in Round Rock, Arizona, for 90 Native American youth, free of charge.
3. Giving Thanks: Military Team Roping School
Charly Crawford and Trey Johnson hosted their fourth-annual Military Team Roping School in November 2017, offering service members team roping instruction and fellowship in Stephenville, Texas.
2. The Unlikely Story of Brian Rosebrook and Kaleb Driggers
Kaleb Driggers paid the World Series of Team Roping Finale XII entry fees of physically disabled Oregon header Brian Rosebrook after Rosebrook’s grit inspired the standout header to battle through the rest of the 2017 regular season.
1. Full Circle: Texas Woman Donates Heel Horse, Kids’ Horse, Saddle, and Ropes to Iraq War Veteran
Texas’ Karen Hering, moved by NFR header Charly Crawford’s free military roping school, donated her horses, saddles, and ropes to Iraq War Army Veteran Jon Kelly.
