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Back in the day when team roping was a California/Arizona thing team ropers didn’t think about going to winter rodeos like Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio, etc. because (A) the weather was too cold and (B) they weren’t invited. Today, team-roping rookies don’t even question their event being a part of rodeo. In fact it’s so popular many winter rodeos have resorted to the “qualification” mandate to manage entries. But it wasn’t always like that.
Initially, though team roping appealed to the elite, upper-class-type cowboy nationwide, it was strictly a western way (of ranching). Eastern cowboys hadn’t much exposure to the method, and when they entertained the idea it was usually unorganized and chaotic. Predominantly bull-doggers and calf ropers, they built their facilities conducive to those events. Arenas were short and narrow with no return ally and their native cattle were not suitable for handling by a rope. (Unlike the western Corrientes, whose primary feature is its big, strong-based horns that dominate its flacco, little frame making them ideal for team roping, native beef cattle’s horns—if any, grow secondary; hollow, frail, and out of proportion to its beefy body. By the time you see any horn growth on natives they are so filled out they’re too heavy for the weak horn to support. Hence, amidst the eastern team roper’s chaos his cattle’s horns would break.) Team roping didn’t sell rodeo because nobody did it right. Eastern rodeo outfits shunned the event deeming the western method a black sheep.
Come January I’d put my nylon ropes up, grab my rubber boots (harassment for being a team roper would get thick) and head east to compete in the bull dogging and calf roping. Once I proved myself in other events “significant” rodeo supporters began approaching me from all directions. One year (1968) in Denver a man named Ed Honnen invited me out to his place. Ed was a prominent businessman (owner of “Caterpillar Equipment Company”) who served on the Denver Rodeo Board. He had team-roping fever and was anxious to have me rope with him. I obliged and we became good friends. One thing led to another and soon Ed was instigating team roping in the Denver Rodeo.
Typically stock contractors squirmed out of the imposition of a team roping event, declaring it too burdensome to adjust to. They were already sardine-packing their stock into them indoor arenas and had structured their rodeos to a T. Team roping was a whole different animal—literally, that went against the grain. Facilitating the event (restructuring set-ups and furnishing cattle with good roping horns) would be a major undertaking and highly uneconomical. However,
Like I’ve said before, if you want to affect something in rodeo, get BIG behind it. Implementing team roping at the Denver rodeo was a tough egg, and the average guy couldn’t just say, “Let’s have it!” A big-wheel had to roll in, slam his fist down on the table and insist they put another cup in the coffee pot. Ed Honnen was a giant in this respect. Packing political and financial leverage, fueled by his mighty will and stature, Ed couldn’t be pushed an inch. He was a big man on the outside, yet an even bigger man on the inside. Characteristically he was an innate powerhouse that never met an obstacle he couldn’t overcome. In his opinion there wasn’t a sturdy enough reason to exclude the all-American event from the “Denver Livestock Show and Market”, so he shifted his gumption into overdrive and broke through all resistance. As a result, in January 1969 Denver became the first eastern rodeo to take on team roping with a grand total of 20 teams participating that first year. Dr. Baker and Bill Brewer from Wyoming won it taking home a whopping $500 dollars a piece after placing on four of 7-head, and Bill Brewer furnished the cattle.
I credit Denver for spear-heading the team roping event in rodeo as others began to catch on. From their first stab in 1969 it developed steadily every year following until finally, like most winter rodeos, Denver faced the dilemma of managing an overabundance of contestants. There just wasn’t enough livestock, parking, or time in the day to service everyone, so in 1974 the Denver rodeo board approved a qualification standard to help cut down on volume. Effective January 1975 contestants were to have won at least $1,000.00 rodeo-dollars the previous year to be eligible to enter.
While a thousand dollars seemed measly in the scheme of a pro season (700-rodeos) it did hold some merit, cutting the amount of entries absolutely in half. More staggering than that, I’d ask a guy whom I competed next to all year long if I could catch a ride to Denver, and he’d tell me he didn’t qualify. That was hard to fathom especially since a steady, year-long competitor puts out well over a thousand dollars in travel and entry expense. Ouch. It was then I realized a different kind of rodeo champion.
Though “qualification-to-compete” went against the original Turtles Association rule that said, “Any competitor who pays his dues has the right to compete…” the regulation was adopted/sanctioned by a number of big-money rodeos in need of quantity control. The “qualification” mandate was an inevitable turning point in history toward modern-day rodeo and a new epoch of professional competition. Nevertheless, in support of our founding father’s original rule, now’s the time to implement an A & B professional circuit system for the pros who make the effort but don’t make the grade.
More about this idea can be found on our “Cross Fire” blog page at www.camarilloteamroping.com
That’s all I know…
Rope Smart!
The Lion
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