Dear Roper, 

Our March issue is a funny one—this is the only issue of the year that gives us some breathing room between events.  We come home from the NFR every year and finish our February issue right before the holidays, then we get to slow down and enjoy our families for a few days before starting this one. The reset is much needed. 

But our partners at the associations—The Patriot, the USTRC, the NTRL, the NTR and the Ariat World Series of Team Roping—are hard at work all that while building the events you’ll get to enjoy the rest of the year. 

You’ll find a preview for the NTR National Finals on page 68,with the highlights of all the good things happening at Rancho Rio. On page 100, you can scan the flyers for the Patriot and the Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping, two of our biggest events of the year. It’s events like these that bring the roping world together in one spot, with millions of dollars up for grabs and a prizeline that’s hard to beat. 

It’s our hope, then, that we put in these pages the information that makes you more prepared to attend. Hunter Koch’s end-of-run secrets are hard to beat for heelers on page 48, and Logan Olson’s scoring-lane tricks will help you elevate your head horse game on page 64. 

We’re also hopeful that you enjoy the storylines that unite the community—like that of the Lazy E Arena’s iconic Delmar Smith, featured on page 36, and the perspective of Kolton Schmidt, coming off his best NFR ever on page 28.

As always, make sure you’re following along online, as we’re cranking out daily content to keep you in the know. 

See you somewhere down the road, 

Chelsea