The Team Roping Journal

The Team Roping Journal magazine educates and entertains readers who actively participate in the sport. We help you to obtain the best results with step-by-step instruction in how to perform at a higher level and win more often. After all, we all know that while the heart is in the land and on the ranch, the ego is alive and well when it comes to besting your friends in the arena.

| Dear Roper

The Team Roping Journal

TICKET=PUNCHED • James Arviso spun the finals steer for Levi Lord at the Cinch Playoff Series Finale in Puyallup, Washington, to tie for the win with Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira. The teams tied with 4.1-second runs and ended their week with $14,858 in total earnings—enough to punch Arviso's ticket to his first National Finals Rodeo appearance.

PUTTING IN WORK ON LABOR DAY • At the Mathews Land and Cattle Labor Day Ariat World Series of Team Roping qualifier, it was Sonny Yelverton and Byron Lenox who took the $40,000 payday in the #8.5 Heartland with a 38.87 on four head.

A LAP ON THE GRASS • The 2026 Pendleton Round-Up victory lap belonged to Clay Smith and Coleby Payne after their time of 18.9 on three head won them the $ 12,500-a-man check. Smith and Payne came back fifth on two head to the finals and topped the short go with a 5.8 to win on the grass.

SIGN OF THE TIMES • Paul Eaves and Harrie Styles took the first-round win at the Texas Best 4-&-Under Heeling in Decatur, Texas, with a 227.69. Harrie Styles is the 2022-model gelding by CR Gotcha Covered out of Stylish Hailee.

PUT ME IN COACH • Kaleb Driggers climbed on SCR Sporties Playgun, better known as Coleman Proctor’s “Heisman,” to take the Night 1 win at the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls with Junior Nogueira. The No. 1 Team in the world headed to the NFR turned in a 3.8 on Friday, Sept. 25, to win $ 12,533 a man.

THE ARIAT WORLD SERIES FINALE REACHES HISTORIC 20TH YEAR

HE’S BAAAAACK: COOPER BRUCE LEADS GREAT LAKES CIRCUIT • There is a Missouri man at the top of the Great Lakes heel side.

MEET WHIP PETERSON OF THE TURQUOISE CIRCUIT • Whip Peterson is no stranger to doing things the cowboy way—he’s just being a rodeo cowboy these days.

A RELENTLESS BUZZ FLIES AWAY WITH TEXAS BEST 6-&-UNDER HEADING TITLE

| At the Barrier | new products

(At Home With) • At press time in late September, Kash Bonnett was getting set to try to defend his 2025 Canadian Professional Rodeo Association heading title at this year’s Canadian Finals Rodeo. The 2026 CFR was about to go down, Oct, 7-10, in Edmonton, Alberta, and 25-year-old Ponoka, Alberta, cowboy Bonnett and Logan Cullen were again the leaders of the Maple Leaf Circuit team roping pack.

MAKE WISE HORSE CHOICES, THEY MATTER

BIG DOGS: BASICS TO BUILD ON

WAR ZONE TO ROPING PEN • After four decades of high-stakes service, Rob Shilaikis found refuge in roping.

BIG BREAK: Jake Stanley’s 2006 Pendleton Round-Up Title

JUST GETTING STARTED: TY HAVENS IS CLIMBING THE RESISTOL JUNIOR HEADING STANDINGS • Fourteen-year-old Mississippi header Ty Havens sits No. 2 in the 2026-27 Resistol Junior Champion Standings with 70 points, including two wins at the North Alabama Classic.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: SKEETER HOWELL CLIMBS THE CINCH LADIES HEELING STANDINGS • Fourteen-year-old Skeeter Howell sits second in the 2026-27 Cinch Ladies heeling standings with 16 points, while her mom, Rosie Howell, leads the headers with 52.

FINER POINTS Stay in your lane • Run directly behind a steer and you’re chasing it. Get too wide and your horse never locks on. Five top headers explain where they want to be, from the back of the box to the catch, and why the answer changes with the horse underneath them. We pulled photos of five headers from the 2026 Riata Pro Futurity and asked them to...