Cactus Ropes Gathering About More Than Roping

What do ropers do for fun?

          Last week at the 2^nd annual Cactus Ropes Gathering, ropers got together at Allen Bach’s place near Milsap, Texas, and that’s all they did was have fun – at horseshoes, golf, softball, goat roping and they threw in a little team roping, just for fun.
          Cactus Ropes got their team members and friends together for a casual photo shoot and picnic last year. The event was so successful, they plan to have it annually. This year’s Gathering was held May 22^nd and 23^rd. Activities started on the 22^nd with a golf game at Canyon West Golf Club near Weatherford before heading to the Bach’s.
          While having the right rope can give the edge to any roper, horsemanship is also an important part of their success in the arena. Knowing that, Cactus Ropes brought Michael Richardson to the event to demonstrate his unique perspective on the subject.
          Richardson sustained a spinal cord injury in a jeep accident in 1986. As a result, his lower extremities were paralyzed. Having been involved with horses all his life, he wanted to continue those relationships.   He now rides with a specially built saddle and has realized what an important element communication is in horsemanship. He grew up riding hunter jumper horses and participating in foxhunts, a world away from team roping.
          "The commonality everyone has is the horse," Richardson said. "It’s all horsemanship. I approach it from a different standpoint because of the situation I’m in. I take it from the most subtle standpoint and read the horses body language."
          After the demonstration, participants were ready for a picnic – Texas style. Chuck wagon cooks Travis and Jackey Perry from Graham, Texas served the first of four meals that were enjoyed by all. A camp meeting followed with gospel music and a message from team roper Trey Johnson.
          Throughout the two-day event, the Perry’s went through 50 gallons of tea, 80 pounds of potatoes, 30 pounds of sugar, 55 pounds of flour, over 140 pounds of meat and many other ingredients.
          After Thursday morning’s breakfast of biscuits and gravy, participants were divided into four teams to compete in the day’s activities. Allen Bach, Trey Johnson, David Key, and Corey Ross captained the teams.
          Two teams started on the horseshoe court and two teams met on the softball field. Each game was played for one hour. At the end of the hour, the team with the most runs in softball and winning the most horseshoe games each got 10 points. Second place was good for 5 points.
          After the first hour of fun, teams switched placed and those that were pitching horseshoes moved to the softball field and vice versa. After that hour was up, it was time to start roping – the main reason everyone was there.
          However, not everyone got to mount up and rope horns. Again, the teams were split up, two teams headed to the big arena to rope steers, and two headed to the small arena to rope goats.
          The goat roping featured a specially built chute and a variety of goats. Both the header and heeler were on foot. After everyone roped the first time, they had to switch positions and try their luck on the other end. Times were kept and the team with the fastest time received points towards the Gathering’s championship.
          Team roping was also unusual in that it wasn’t a timed event. Points were awarded to ropers for catching the steers. If they had a clean head catch and captured two feet, they got four points. If they only caught one foot, they received three points. A head catch with no heel catch was good for two points. At the end of the competition, those points were tallied to determine the winning team.
          What might have been a statistician’s nightmare was really a simple system devised by team ropers. At the end, a world champion’s team was declared the champions. Bach was at the helm of the winning team. They nearly had a clean sweep winning the horseshoes, and goat roping competition. They tied with David Key’s team in the softball and placed second in the team roping.
          "We wanted everyone to come out and have fun," Bach said. "I’ve been really blessed by my relationships with all of these people. It was great to spend time with them outside of the competition arena."
          While the object was to have fun, winning is always the goal for the competitors. David Key not only served as team captain, he was the team motivator, yelling for his players and keeping their competitive spirits high.
          "It’s been great getting together with everybody and getting to know them better," Key said. "We fit a lot into one day here and I know we’re all tired. I might be hoarse tomorrow, but it sure was fun."
          Other sponsors of the Gathering included Wrangler Jeans and Shirts; Heel-O-Matic and Fast Back Ropes.