Ask the Flagger - May 2009

Philip,

This maybe a fluke, but I wanted to get your call on this run that I witnessed at a past roping.

As the header roped the steer ¾ down the pen, he tied a knot slick around the horns (meaning the roped curled behind the horns) and came around the front of the steer and caught the steer's leg, causing the steer to trip or stumbles to the ground in his front end as the header pulled his slack. The steer did not fall completely and is on four again very quickly; the flagger then flagged the team out and rode back to the watch the next team. The header seeing that the rope is slick around the horns turns the steers not seeing or knowing they have been flagged out and the heeler ropes the steer clean on the first hop going away. This all happened very quickly, I do not think the team even knew why the steer stumbled. Was this the right call for the flagger to flag the team out?

Stuart

Stuart,

In this case, as you described it, and if this was a roping that was using USTRC rules, it was a Good Call…

Remember, there are some organizations that will let you fish out a front or rear leg in a head loop. The final decision is not made until the run is over and is determined if there is still a foot in the head loop.

The flagger maybe should have stayed in place, so the team would have known they had been flagged out. Then the Flagger could have explained why he flagged them out, if the team had chosen to question his call.

A good Flagger will always try to position themselves so they can observe the entire run and any situation that may occur during the run. There are no substitutions for USTRC rule 8.7 that states: “Should a header rope any leg, it’s an automatic no time. Under no circumstances will the header be allowed to fish out the leg.”

Hope this answers your question.