Stars come out for dummy roping

ALBUQUERQUE

When he was 10 years old, Aaron Tsinigine won his first horse trailer.

The talented Tuba City, Ariz., cowboy won that prize at a Booger Barter dummy roping. And while times have changed, Tsinigine still sees talent at every dummy roping he goes to, including last Saturday’s smorgasbord that was hosted by the Elite Rodeo Athletes in Albuquerque.

“That was a long time ago but there are so much talent on the Navajo reservation,” Tsinigine said. “It all goes back to our grandparents. They had livestock and during the summers growing up that is where I picked it up. They had sheep and I think we spent more time roping them than we did letting them eat.”

Last season, Tsinigine became the first Navajo to win a world title in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association ranks by ending his season total at $227,671 with $133,903 coming from the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

In addition to Tsinigine, there were some top names at the youth dummy roping that attracted 44 youngsters with 28 of them competing in the 8-and-under while the 9 to 12 age group had 16 participants.

“That was a lot of fun,” seven-time world champion Clay O’ Brien Cooper said. “There were a lot of kids with their families. It was a good time for everybody. This where the competition starts and those young competitors showed some real talent.”

Fifteen year pro Ryan Motes said the real reason why they were at the dummy roping was for the kids.

“The future of rodeo and roping is youth right now,” Motes said. “It is probably stronger than it’s ever been and we want the future of rodeo to be able to keep up with how good these young boys and girls are coming up.”

Motes said it was nice to see the different generation of ropers present at the dummy roping.

“Two of the greatest heelers are here,” Motes said of Cooper of Martin Lucero as both ropers have over 60 years of experience. “How much better is that for a little kid to show up and see that.”

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