I got my (Rodeo Cowboys Association) card in 1978. I was 17 at the time—you didn’t have to be 18 then—and only went to a few rodeos the last part of the year with Brian Burrows. I remember flying to Albuquerque and winning second there that fall. That was back when the Top 15 individual team ropers could invite a partner to the NFR, and me getting to go was thrown out there as a possibility. I was just a young kid who didn’t know anything, but looking back, that cost me my rookie status. And though I don’t remember the specific reason, the rules at that time did not allow me to go to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo).
I just amateured and jackpotted with Bret Beach in 1979 and ’80. We were going to all the big ropings in California and Arizona, and went to Arizona and Texas in the summertime. We were making a living doing our own thing. My first year of rodeoing full-time was in 1981 with Bret. He won rookie of the year, even though I won more money than him, because of that little blip on the screen in 1978.
Our era was just so different than it is now. Team roping wasn’t a standard event, so they didn’t even have it at a lot of rodeos. There were no rodeo limits, so you could go to as many rodeos as you wanted and count them all. Equal money in the team roping was scarce. We went to a ton of $500-added rodeos that only added $250 in the team roping. We entered all the little fair rodeos in Colorado and Nebraska, and every little rodeo in Wyoming and Montana in the summertime, because that’s all there was for team ropers to go to. More rodeos started adding team roping, they just didn’t add anything.
We were young and naïve, but we started standing up. Why would the other events have so much more added than the one with the most contestants in the whole sport? The hierarchy at that time told us not to make any waves. They basically said we shouldn’t say anything or they might eliminate our event. That was just the norm when we first arrived.
Team roping was not very lucrative in the early years of our careers. There weren’t many events where you could win a pile of money. We were in survival mode. But Bob Feist started something when he came with the BFI in 1977. And by God’s design, team roping was getting popular. Denny Gentry started the number system and USTRC Finals. By the time Jake and I hooked up and started winning, team roping exploded in popularity across the country.
More big ropings came along, like the George Strait and Billy Pipes’ Wildfire. Rodeo started getting better for team ropers, too. It was really something to live that crossover era from what the Camarillos lived with to what’s become possible for team ropers today. Guys like Jake (Barnes) and I got to live the ascension of team roping.
Technology boomed in team roping, too. When we were young, renting movies for entertainment was the big thing. Jake and I made our first teaching tape, and it was a big hit. The Mega Match tape was also really popular. The era after us got to be inspired by that, and take it from there. Kids got to start dreaming about making a living team roping. Guys like Speed Williams and Rich Skelton were inspired to be like us, and to be better than us.
I was blessed to rope amongst decades of team ropers, and live that progression from the new kid who came in and started making his mark. Rodeo completely changed during my career, with team roping at every rodeo and equal money at more places, including the NFR. They started having back-to-back formats to lighten our travel a little, and lessen having to make three trips to one rodeo.
When we started our careers, it was non-stop 24/7, whipping and spurring. There were years Jake and I went to 125 rodeos, all the jackpots and had a full roping school schedule. Whatever it took to make a living and win world championships. Those were crazy times. A bunch of us worked hard toward making it better, and there was a huge transformation from Leo’s time to today. It was a roller coaster ride, and I was blessed to be right smack dab in the middle of it.
—TRJ—
More from ClayO
- Our Time Was A Very Different Day for Team Ropers
“Team roping was not very lucrative in the early years of our careers. There weren’t many events where you could win a pile of money. We were in survival mode.” - The Day We Won the BFI
Jake Barnes and Clay O’Brien Cooper won the BFI in 1988. barnes recalls on the day. - Keeping Your Cool in the NFR Pressure Cooker
The (Wrangler) National Finals Rodeo is home of the ultimate pressure in the rodeo game. For me, pressure was never really about the size or… Read more: Keeping Your Cool in the NFR Pressure Cooker - What Sets Team Roping Horsemanship Apart
For someone who ropes for a living-or even someone who has goals that he or she wants to achieve in his or her roping because… Read more: What Sets Team Roping Horsemanship Apart - Mastering the Heel Loop with Clay O’Brien Cooper
Understanding the concept of what needs to take place in the delivery and placement of the rope to have a consistently good heel loop.
