b"From the Back OF THE BOXBy John SamsillFor all your team roping questions or to schedule a clinic or lesson you can contact medirectly at johnsamsillteamroping@gmail.comT his past week two thingsmoney up for grabs, it brings out more ropers and the best happened that I feel need toin their respective divisions. With the amount of cowboys be talked about. I saw a ropeand cowgirls competing, sometimes the difference between horse sell for a quarter of a millionwinning and losing comes down to the horse your riding. dollars, a cowboy backing in theIve always advised that you should buy the best horse you box to win a million dollars on onecan afford; it will make a difference. Some people have the run, and what happened after he roped his calf. Both of theseability and the facilities to make a good horse, but most things happening show just how far team roping and rodeo asdo not. This is why we have to depend on the trainers and a whole has come, and why rodeo is so popular. people who sell rope horses. It costs a lot of money to train and season a rope horse. It usually takes years of training Good horses have always been considered expensive noand hauling to season one. Not all horses make good ropeHunter Reaume matter what era it was. Im sure that there are more than Ihorses so a trainer may have to go through several just to& Gypsyknow of, but I can only think of two or three times that aget one good one.rope horse ever sold for $100,000. These usually involved some type of trade as part of the deal so it's hard to sayWith all this being said, it's no wonder that the prices oflast to compete. Both it was truly a hundred thousand dollar exchange. Ruberope horses are going up. I only hope that the prices beingwere former world Woolsey did sell a horse in the early 2000s for $125,000 andpaid do not rise so high that it keeps people who want tochampions and they that was an exchange of cash only. Talking to Rube backstart roping from doing so. Roping is not an inexpensivetied their calves in 7.7 then we didnt know of any other rope horse who had soldhobby to get into with all that is needed to get started. So, ifseconds and 8.4 seconds for that much money previously. The market has come athe prices of horses become too high then in the long runrespectively. The 7.7 long way in a short time and that can be directly contributedit could hurt the sport. Only time will tell where the pricesseconds won the event.Photo by Shelby Caitlin Photographyto the amount of money that a roper has the chance to win.will settle into. Rope horses are no different than any otherSo, Hunters time of 7.2 There are ropers who have won $175,000 at the World Seriescommodity, prices are driven by supply and demand. Withseconds would have won him the millionof Team Roping. Each division there, except for the openthe prices being paid today I think that supply will increasedollars. The most money Hunter had won in a yearroping, will pay $100,000 to the winners. To be able to winbut I hope that demand stays high. previous to this had been $10,000. that kind of money takes horsepower. Rodeo cowboys have known this for a long time but now this is true for everyOn the last day of The American Rodeo, Hunter ReaumeHunter lived with my family when he was in high school division. As you can imagine, with life-changing amounts ofrode into the box in the calf roping with a chance to winfor about six months while his parents were in Wyoming the million-dollar bonus. He was the last person to haverunning their business and trying to get it sold. I can tell the chance to win it, so the full million dollars was on theyou firsthand what a fine young man he is, but the whole line. If you didnt see The American Rodeo, Ill fill you inwestern world witnessed his character, maturity, and on what happened. He tied his calf in 7.2 seconds and wasultimately his faith in God that day. I dont know of any winning the million. He is required to mount his horseother person who has won a million dollars and then lost and ride up to put slack in the rope to make sure the calfit in less than a second. Going from the highest mountain stays tied for the mandatory six seconds. As he walkedto the deepest valley in a heartbeat. After Hunters horse back his horse spooked and ran off. I need to tell you thatGypsy ran off, his first concern was for Gypsy, not the the horse, calf, and cowboy were not injured in any way.money he had come so close to winning. The first thing he Reaume received a no time as his calf did not stay tied fordid when he finally had Gypsy under control was to make the required 6 seconds. The next two calf ropers were thesure he was okay. He then gave him some love and rubbed his neck. Riding out of the arena with the crowd cheering, he pointed to a patch on his shirt, one of the only ones he was sporting, that represented his good friend Michael Jeffers, who he had played high school football with who had recently died suddenly of heart failure. Not once through this heartbreaking ordeal did his thoughts turn to his misfortune. When he rode out of the arena the first thing he told his dad was It wasnt in Gods plan. When I spoke with him the next day, he was in good spirits and told me he wasnt sure why Gypsy ran off but he never even for a second harbored any anger or resentment toward him. I couldnt be prouder of this young man! With sports figures acting like they do today, this is truly a person you can have your children look up to and use as a role model. I urge you to follow him on Facebook and Instagram. Until next time, Ill see you at the back of the box. Smartys Dunny, a son of ColonelsI want to thank my sponsors, Fastback Ropes,Smart Spook, broke sale records atUsher Brand Silver and Saddlery, Omega Fields The Horse Sale at Rancho Rio. Feeds, SaddleRight Saddle Pads, andPhoto courtesy of The Horse Sale at Rancho Rio Hassayampa Veterinary Services. ArizonaRealCountry.com April 2021 51"