Ropin' with Cary Culbertson

by Frank DuBois

The picture above recently appeared on Cary Culbertson's Facebook page. It was taken in 1973, right after he had been bucked off into a cactus. His brother Myles says he was thrown off over the horse's head and the pony was really hard to bridle after that.

The picture got me to thinking about the one time Cary and I roped together.

You know how certain memories are permanently implanted in your brain and you can call them up at any time? And how some events, although they happened in a rapid fashion, appeared at the time to happen in slow motion and thus your memory is in slow-mo too? Well both of those apply to this one run with Culbertson. Call it cowboy instant replay.

Cary had a 5 year old buckskin gelding he called Cody. He said he had done some pasture roping on the horse and would like to see how he would react in an arena. So we met at Skip Prichard's arena, where I was a member of the Riff Raff Roping Club.

Here is how this particular run is replayed in my mind's eye, always in slow motion.

I back my horse into the header's box, Cary positions his on the heeler's side.

I call for the steer.

My horse blows out of the box and runs to my favorite hole.

I throw, the hondo knot hits just below the left horn, my curl comes around just right and I jerk my slack.

I got my dally and was shaping the steer as I went left.

And then I saw a Zippo cigarette lighter falling from the sky.

I remember thinking, "Is that a lighter falling from the sky?"

It was followed by a pack of cigarettes which was immediately followed by Cary Culbertson, headside down and heading for the dirt.

The next thing I know the buckskin is bucking into the rope between me and the steer, so I quickly let go the dally to keep the wreck from getting any worse.

Now folks, I wish I could tell you where the buckskin started bucking, how hard he bucked or just how high he sent Culbertson.

But I can't.

All I saw was the Zippo lighter...the cigarettes...and the upside down Culbertson.

This happened twenty plus years ago and I don't remember if this was our first run or the last.

No, all I remember is the Zippo lighter...the cigarettes...and Culbertson heading head first for tierra firma.

And that he still had his hat on as he whisked past my line of sight.