Roper Review Archives - The Rodeo News

Roper Review

Roper Review: Brock Middleton

Sometimes fate steps in and totally changes our life… “Back in the mid-90’s, one Sunday afternoon, my dad and I were driving around, drinking beer, “says Brock. “We took a wrong turn down a dirt road and stumbled upon Grady Harper’s arena where they were team roping. We had no…

Roper Review : Craig Branham

Craig Branham, 58, grew up, the eldest of three boys, in Tombstone, Arizona. When he was six, his mom, Sue, married Jack Branham, and the family moved to Oakdale, California. Jack was a roper and Reserve World Champion to Ken Luman, in 1966, before Heading and Heeling were recognized as…

Roper Review: Tanner Brown

If you start roping the sawhorse at nineteen months old, and enter your first junior rodeo at five years old... that’s considered an early start by any standard. Mississippi Junior High School Association allows contestants in Kindergarten through 8th grade to compete. However, National contestants must be in 6th, 7th,…

Roper Review: Coy Upchurch

Growing up in the small Texas town of Itasca, Coy started riding and roping when he and his dad would help out on a local ranch. It wasn’t until high school that he truly caught the roping bug that would lead him to attend schools taught by roping legends like…

Roper Review: Makayla Boisjoli

Almost all parents encourage their children to follow their dreams… but not all parents change their lifestyle or location to help them pursue those dreams. The Boisjoli sisters, (Makayla, 20; Shelby, 19; Marissa, 17) grew up in the small hamlet of Langdon, Alberta. “I can remember stories of when my…

Roper Review: Wesley Sims

Happy, Texas, is a very small town in west Texas, south of Amarillo. That’s where Wes and younger brother Wyatt, grew up and caught the calf-roping bug. In the beginning, without cattle, the boys would sit on their horses in the yard and rope the dummy. Once they got calves,…

Roper Review: Gary Mefford

Gary Mefford found his vocation as a sophomore in high school in 1974, working part time at King Ropes in Sheridan, Wyoming. He started out tying knots and rapidly expanded to tying burners and picking up orders. Nearly 43 years later, he knows the shop like one of his favorite…

Roper Review: Bailey Peterson

Roping is in her blood – literally. Bailey (Cooper) Peterson, daughter of 7-time world champ, Clay O’Brien Cooper. Bailey grew up in Higley, Arizona where she lived until the age of eight. After a couple of years living in Idaho, the family made the move to Texas. A few years…

Roper Review: Chad Masters

Chad Masters can’t remember a time when he didn’t rope. He does recall that he was about five years old when started roping horseback. Chad grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee where his dad, Bobby, a Pepsi executive, trained calf horses and his mom, Debbie, worked at the post office. Chad…

Roper Review: T.J. Jones

Growing up, T. J. Jones knew from an early age he wanted to be a cowboy, a real cowboy. At the age of ten, his dad bought some property in the country and built an arena for his older brother to practice bulldogging. Not long afterwards, the Jones had some…

Roper Review: Brian Doty

Brian Doty grew up in the small town of Joshua, a few miles south of Ft. Worth. Brian attributes his love of all things cowboy to the time he spent with his calf roping uncle, Richard Doty, and cousins, Ricky and Rocky Doty. As a youngster Brian spent as much…

Roper Review: Ryan Pratt

A big part of a sales rep job is traveling and being away from home. Ryan Pratt travels fifteen to twenty days each month as a rep for Nocona, American Hats, and Fast Back Ropes. Ryan, 42, lives in Shelbyville, Tennessee, with fiancé, Kristen, and his “territory” includes Tennessee, Kentucky,…