All it takes is a good ropin' rock
Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

By Julie Carter

Dan comes from a long line of rodeo ropers and he loves and trusts every one of them to tell him like it is.

Periodically, like every roper, he will get in a slump. The roping cattle take on a more relaxed appearance. They know they are in no danger.

When this happens, Dan heads to visit Uncle Tex for a quick fix to his problems.

Dan is on the close side of 40, and every time he talks to Tex, he wonders why exactly Tex didn't tell him this particular magic tidbit when he was just a button. It's like his lips were sewed shut and Dan has to pry it out of him.

This educational meeting was set to take place at the local greasy spoon for breakfast. Tex showed up, listened attentively to the problem, and said, "Hmmmmm." That was all Dan got.

After they ate and got as many refills on the coffee as the café allowed, they wandered next door to the local cowboy "toy" store. They were still visiting and inspecting all the newest inventions like the Heel-O-Matic, Robosteer, Hot Heels, all the brightly colored ropes, new bits, new saddles and other essentials for the modern, techno-smart roper.

Dan was drooling, trying to figure which gadget would cure his current problem. Tex, of the old school, just looked.

They went on out to the ranch, still visiting and just fooling around. Like all cowboys, if they don't already have a fork in their hand, they pick up ropes and start throwing a few practice loops.

Not having gotten the fix to his roping problem, Dan decided to try again.

"You know, Tex, I'm kind of looking for a new horse."

Tex: "How come? Can't the one you got get to the other end of the arena?"

Dan: "Yeah, but I'm not roping too good on him."

Tex: "You ain't ropin' too good right now and there ain't a horse in sight. What's he do?"

Dan: "Well, he pretty regular bucks with me while I'm trying to rope."

Tex: "So ride him."

Dan: 'He ain't terrible fast either."

Tex: "Lose your spurs, boy?"

Dan: "You think one of those new pink ropes would help?"

Here's where the well rope story came in. You all know that one where if you are any count as a roper you can rope with a well rope.

Dan was about to think Tex wouldn't be able to cure his current difficulty, when Tex unzipped his lip.

He set the low-tech sawhorse they were roping at an angle where there was only about an inch clearance to the ground. He put a rock just to the right of the heels and told Dan to get his elbow up, tip down, feel his rope with his little finger, knock the rock through and catch the heels.

Seemed simple enough. Dan has been home a week and hasn't missed a set of doubles yet.

Probably if old Walt would have had a real good rock like that, it wouldn't have taken him that extra year to win his eighth Heeling World Championship.

I'm headed out to find me a good roping rock.