Breakaway roping can be all or nothing

Erick Starkey
Posted 6/6/18

The Torrington Youth Series Rodeo held its third rodeo of the summer last week, with breakaway roping as an event for 8-14-year olds and 5-7-year-old athletes participating in dummy roping.

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Breakaway roping can be all or nothing

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TORRINGTON – The Torrington Youth Series Rodeo held its third rodeo of the summer last week, with breakaway roping as an event for 8-14-year olds and 5-7-year-old athletes participating in dummy roping.

Mastering breakaway roping, like many other rodeo events, is a matter of practice and repetition, but once the competition gets tougher, the event comes down to taking chances.

“When I have young people that ask me about starting to rope, I tell them two things, ‘I say you need to ride a horse a lot and then you need to rope a dummy until you’ve worn out several ropes,’” said Jake Clark, Eastern Wyoming College rodeo coach who also helps put on the TYSR. “Perfect those two things first, then put them together.”

Breakaway roping in the TYSR is for the older competitors. Starting at 8 years old, athletes can start competing, but in the 8-10-year-old division, there is no barrier on the box. Moving to the 11-14-year-old division, there is a barrier, that if broken too soon, can lead to a time penalty. Once out of the box, the race is on to rope the calf and have the rope pop off of the saddle.

“Once you get to a high-level breakaway roper, it’s all about timing,” Clark said. “There is a barrier so you can’t leave the box too early. You’ve got to time that just right and be looking for your first throw.”

Aiming for that first throw can be the key to success in breakaway roping. In an event that can be decided by a fraction of a second, the quickest throw often wins out, but has its risks.

“It’s kind of an all or nothing once you get to that high-level breakaway roping,” Clark said. “If you follow the calf for too long, you might have had a nice run, but you aren’t going to win anything. It goes from being consistent to having to take some chances and be really fast.”

Before getting to the point of roping as fast as possible, it’s important to maintain the basics, before going for speed.

“It’s important to be riding your horse well and catching before you try to get faster,” Clark said. “If you’re a young student and you are catching the calves in the middle of the arena, that’s okay. You can speed it up, but don’t speed it up at the cost of starting to miss.”

Results from the May 30 youth rodeo include:

5-7-year-old barrel racing – 1, Hattie Haeffelin, Torrington, 16.38; 2, Brilee Burford, Mitchell, Neb., 18.79.

8-10-year-old barrel racing – 1, Juddy Farella, Cheyenne, 16.26; 2, Josie Symons, Mitchell, Neb., 24.01.

11-14-year-old barrel racing – 1, Rayne Grant, Wheatland, 16.45; 2, Jade Painter, Scottsbluff, Neb., 16.56; 3, Baliegh Lane, Torrington, 16.73; 4, Teryn Stokes, Torrington, 16.78.

5-7-year-old pole bending – 1, Hattie Haeffelin, Torrington 22.31; 2, Jewel Randall, Wheatland, 24.95; 3, Juston Keener, Mitchell, Neb., 31.07.

8-10-year-old pole bending – 1, Kamry Stratton, Torrington, 21.73; 2, Juddy Farella, Cheyenne, 22.26.

11-14-year-old pole bending – 1, Kenna Stratton, Torrington, 21.55; 2, Teryn Stokes, Torrington, 22.78; 3, Rayne Grant, Wheatland, 23.11.

5-7-year-old dummy roping fast time – 1, Zane Zurcher, Morrill, Neb./ Juston Keener, Mitchell, Neb., 2.1; 3, Cade Zurcher, Morrill, Neb., 2.4.

5-7-year-old dummy roping average – 1, Zane Zurcher, Morrill, Neb., 7.0 on 3; 2, Cade Zurcher, Morrill, Neb., 8.0 on 3; 3, Brilee Burford, Mitchell, Neb./ Tatum Wiedman, Torrington, 11.2 on 3.

5-7-year-old goat untying – 1, Jack Hartman, Veteran, 10.1; 2, Brilee Burford, Mitchell, Neb., 10.3; 3, Jewel Randall, Wheatland, 10.9.

8-10-year-old girls goat tying – 1, Kamry Stratton, Torrington, 11.5; 2, Anna Hartman, Veteran, 13.8.

8-10-year-old boys goat tying – 1, Juddy Farella, Cheyenne, 13.41.

11-14-year-old boys goat tying – 1, Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff, Neb./ Cory Bomhoff, Cheyenne, 10.2; 3, Sid Peterson, Torrington, 11.2.

11-14-year-old girls goat tying – 1, Rayne Grant, 10.0; 2, Angel Rains, Torrington, 10.2; 3, Kenna Stratton, 12.5.

8-10-year-old breakaway roping – 1, Braxton Burford, Mitchell, Neb., 4.3.

11-14-year-old breakaway roping – 1, Cory Bomhoff, Cheyenne, 3.0; 2, Sid Peterson, Torrington, 3.7; 3, Jaxon Farella, Cheyenne, 3.8; 4, Rayne Grant, Wheatland, 4.0.

Team Roping – 1, Woodrow Brow, Wheatland, 6.3; 2, Chance Symons, Mitchell, Neb., 6.5; 3, Rayne Grant, Wheatland, 8.5; 4, Cord Symons, Mitchell, Neb., 10.2; 5, Woodrow Brow, Wheatland, 14.0.