S T O R I E S

From where Robby and Darrel hang their hats, Gatesville is a long way down in the tick-picking East Texas woods.

Robby had been in charge of researching the roping and mis-read the entry fee listing.

He thought the fees were $75 a man, $150 a team.

You guessed it. The fees were $150 a man and so began the depletion of the minimal funds the duo had to start this venture.

They drew a "pup" but missed, stopped for steak on the way home and began calculating their expenses. Planning ahead is not one of their better traits.

Undaunted by lack of funds, they were set on going again the following weekend to Silverton and then on to Post.

The practice steers they leased were still not broken in and by reports, "the little Speedy Gonzales' had racing stripes down their sides."

When the pair asked the roping steer contractor for "rodeo steers," they got more than they bargained for.

Their plan was to haul them to the town arena and rope them since the arena had been worked the month before for the rodeo.

Then they would turn them out on the creek bottom and let them eat down some city grass so little kids didn't get snake bit.

Altruistic fellas, one and all.

An aside, this particular arena was built, due to a slight miscalculation on the part of the rodeo club, in a location that was at the convergence of four watersheds, on the banks of a creek which floods anytime there is a quarter of an inch of rain anywhere within a four county area.

This has resulted in it being named the Comanche Rodeo Arena and Yacht Club.

Robby was not real happy with his horse's performance, saying he was an "average winner" not a "rodeo run" horse.

So to make sure things were in veterinary order, they both decided they needed to have their horses "beaned."

A bean, where horses are concerned, is a firm lump of dirt and excretion that builds up in a horse's sheath and must be removed as often as necessary.

It can cause serious pain to a horse and these cowboys were sure any negative behavior by their horses was due to this condition.

And just to add a little insurance to their plan, they headed out to practice with the Cowboy Church crowd, thinking a few prayers couldn't hurt.

So with two practices under their belts, beaned horses, prayers and the requisite amount of beer, the team ropers were, again, off down the road.

And Curly? Well he had a new get-rich-quick enterprise going so he stayed behind. He was collecting up old, worn our ropes and selling them for $5 a pop at the feed store.

Business picked up when one of the farmers who had become the proud owner of one these treasures came in with a story. He had put a hired hand in the back of a pickup with the rope, tied on hard and fast to the headache rack.

The hand finally got one of the cows roped and things went downhill from there. The end result was the cow ran off to the back side of the pasture with half the headache rack trailing behind her on the rope.

The good news was the farmer had come to buy another rope to catch the cow again so they could get the headache rack off.

Curly was sure that, at this rate, he'd be able to retire PDQ.

Which reminds me, you know how on TV all the ailments go by initials now - ED, COPD, RLS and suchlike. Well, ropers are now picking up on this with such abbreviations as NER (nod en route) for when they are pushing the barrier all the way to DAL (dead arse last). Guaranteed, this bunch of cowboy hillbillies is right up there on the latest trends.

RBR (ride baby ride), RFA (rodeo fever arrived).