Ask the Flagger - November 2009

Philip,

At a draw pot where the speaker system was not very good and while the header was sitting in the head box, a roper rode into the heel box spun around and walked out. The header called for his steer, leaves the box, ropes his steer, then looks behind him and sees that he has no heeler. Is he entitled to another steer? In this case they were awarded another steer and ended up placing in the roping. Thank you,

Tracy

Tracy,

Thank you for that question; Yes, I would have given them another steer. As for the situation you asked about, the roper that rode into the box may have been schooling their horse, or a roper that just wasn’t sure of who their partner was. Many a time, the sound systems are hard to hear and you are not sure if they called your name or not. If you are not sure, ask if the announcer can recall that team. However, a Header should always check and see if their Heeler is ready before calling for the steer. I have even seen where a team makes a run only to discover they are not a team. So that run is null and void and the ropers must be brought back as a corrected team. I see this happen quite often at the lower number Draw-Pots. I might suggest that if you are in a Draw-Pot roping, you might want to see if you can find your partners, or at least copy down the team numbers and the names that you have drawn. You might even ask around and see if other ropers might know who your drawn partners are. Hope this answers your question.

Keep the Spirit Alive
Philip Murrah
Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

Tracey, Thank-you for the question. WRANGLER will be sending you a certificate for a new pair of Jeans.

The opinions expressed are those of Philip Murrah, and not necessarily standardized by any organization. If you have a question for “Ask the Flagger”

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