WINNING AT TEAM ROPING with LEO CAMARILLO !

Let's be realistic here. Your sitting in your office one day and pondering your history and where to go from here. You have decided that the age of 40 you want to do one last thing in life to challenge yourself before you start drawing your retirement check. Golf? Nah, to boring, you still have a bit of athleticism streaking through your blood. How about racquetball? Not a chance, I do not banging into walls and leaving bruises, not to mention, all the sweat smell in the small wooden rooms is a bit much for me. Then the thought hits you like a ton of bricks. I would love to learn to rope! Yes, I know this is a stretch, but just follow along here for a bit. I have said most of the above tongue in cheek, but the reality is, the sport of "TEAM ROPING" is growing by leaps and bounds. It is fun, it is challenging, you don't have to hop off your horse at 30 mph and wrestle a steer or fight a 250 pound calf to tie him down. And yes, the best part, if you are good, their is major league amount money to be made. And I am talking about serious money. But how do you get that far?

A brief history. About 15 years ago, the " weekend warrior's " type of roper's got together. They did this because they were tired of getting clobbered by the professional types. They formed an organization known as the USTRC or ( United States Team Roping )(link below) and thus a regulation group was put into place. This is actually pretty complicated here to explain, but I will try. Basically it is this. If you can sit on a horse without falling off and swing a rope, you will be put into a category of 2 or maybe 3, that is if you can swing your rope without hitting yourself in the face or the horse or roping your own horses tail while walking the horse. Then if your a Leo Camarillo, they may not even let you into the Association at all, but if they do you will be labelled a 10. Meaning that if you are a 3, you do not have to rope with the 10. You only rope with other 3's or maybe you are a 3 and your healing partner is a 4 or 5, then you would rope with others of the same caliber. Make sense?

Now, why is it worth it to do this? Family fun for all ages. It doesn't matter if your a girl, boy, grey headed, white headed or purple headed. It doesn't matter what you do for a living, you can be Joe the Plumber or George Strait (who by the way is a pretty good roper), but you get the idea. You can ride a mule, a pony or the Kentucky Derby winner from last year. It doesn't matter. The main thing that does matter is that everyone has fun and if your pretty good for your class then you win money, buckles, trailers, new trucks (yes I said new pickup trucks), saddles and the list goes on and on. Some of the bigger roping's, you can even win free airfare for a year along with vouchers to stays at some of Las Vegas premier resorts and new wardrobes from Cinch, Wrangler and yea, the list is endless on freebies. As a side note, your money payout? Some of these roping's yes, you can be just a 4 or 5 level and win hundreds of thousands of dollars. Are you interested yet? This is almost like winning the World Series of Poker with a rope.

O.K., here we go. If you are just thinking about it, you need to sit down with someone that really knows what their doing to instruct you in selecting the right horse. Then you need to find someone to work with you on your roping. This piece is going to sound like a huge plug for a dear friend of mine, but every-word of it is true. If you wanted to learn how to throw a football, would you rather have lessons from John Elway or John Smith that is a part time welder and owns a body shop? Nothing against welders or body shop owners but they're usually not Super Bowl Champions and Hall Fame Quarterbacks. If it were me, I want the best of the best. I want the Vince Lombardi of ropers to talk me through my newest endeavor. And with that said, I am going to recommend Mr. Leo Camarillo to you. Leo will and can put you on a horse that is right for your ability. Meaning, you do not want a 3 year old Stud horse to teach you how to rope. You want a solid 15 year gelding that has forgotten more about roping than you have learned. Then once you have it down better and more confidence, then you go to that 8 year old that is a "hotter horse" as your card rating goes up.

I would take lessons. The reason for this, is this. The one draw back to learning to rope is, if you are not instructed properly, you can lose a part of a finger. And we do not want that, do we? Get some professional instruction and I again would go to the best. I would go and spend a week or two, yea, it will cost you some money, but once you have done so, you will leave and go home all set up and start winning almost immediatly at your level. Leo can fit you with you steed, send you home with a rope can full of ropes, dummies and talent. He will even go so far as to take you down and fit you with the right truck and trailer if need be.

Now if you are a semi-pro or think you are, but cannot seem to make it to the National Finals, you to might want to call Leo. Their is an art to rodeing effectively and winning. It is an art that if you notice their usually the same guys in Las Vegas every year and whole bunch who wish they were. It is not that your not as good as some of those in Vegas, it is that they know how to rodeo. Which ones to hit, which ones to stay away from, when to go, how to go and a whole lot of inside tips.

Before you laugh, let me say this. Mr. Camarillo has enough World Championship Buckles to wallpaper a wall in your home. He has enough saddles to mount Napolians army that he won and enough free trailers he has given away to supply a horse hauling operation. He was making the NFR when most of you were in diapers. If I were you, I would listen and listen very carefully to what this old crusty codger cowboy has to say. He is the best horse trainer in the nation for team roping and calf roping horses and yes he will work with your nag also if you would like him too. He can take you from 10 second runs to 7 second runs in a week if you listen to him.

Buy the movie " Changing the Game " and watch it. These brothers reinvented this sport and built into what it has become today. And today it is a multimillion dollar sport that tens of thousands enjoy on a daily basis.

If you would like to contact Leo, drop me a line and I will hook you up. Be serious, be straight and want to learn or improve your roping skills. I do promise this you much. If you do listen to the grouchy old fellow, you will go to the pay window. I promise! And yea, Leo, that grouchy part was for you with a smile on my face.

Just drop me an line at this address ( kwrcrow@gmail.com ) and I am happy to set you up..Have a great one and God bless.