August 2017 14 ARIZONA’S BEST SELECTION OF QUALITY TACK & SADDLES “FIRST PLACE TO STOP, BEST PLACE TO SHOP” 28232 N. 42nd Street Cave Creek, AZ 85331 480-585-4073 www.dynamitehorsemansupply.com Mon – Fri: 8am-5pm • Sat: 9am-4pm • Sun: Closed Our store carries a full line of quality tack, ropes, hay & grain as well as the DHS Saddles which is our brand name Saddle! HOW TO BECOME A Professional Team Roper In all the years I’ve been rodeoing I’ve learned there are certain things you need to have to be a professional roper. There’s a lot of wear and tear on your body, and that takes a toll on you sooner or later. Your body starts telling you it hurts about the time you hit 50, so the more you can do in the early going to prevent that, the better. I know if I had the equipment they have now back when I started, I’d have done it differently. One improvement I’ve made in recent times is that I now use a freestyle hot walker instead of all the miles I used to put on my horses myself. It’s not a regular hot walker. Mine’s been converted to where a horse moves at a fast walk, in a 6’ wide by 15’ long pen that rotates around that the horse has to keep up with. I wish I was 19 years old, with the technology people have nowadays. My horses walk in that hot walker for about an hour while I work the arena before I rope. The ones with the most energy go in the hot walker last, right before I rope.