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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1991)
S-S.3£-0f g u-o*© g’S ofcE.2 S-o ££i-c ^,cc ^ ^ S' ? S o-2 o re-2o-« ^ > 13 • c a » - tu £ ? q Photos By Phelan M. Ebenhack Above: Stan McDonald, a junior animal science major from Bryan, proudly wears the buckle he received for winning the calf roping event in the Youth Rodeo Association Finals in 1988. Right: McDonald warms up with some lassoing exercises. T he rainy weather has made it a little harder on Stan McDonald. For about two hours on three or four days a week, McDonald and his horses work on calf roping, an event he has been perfecting for about eight years. The rain makes it too wet to practice, he says. A junior animal science major from Bryan, McDonald has been around horses all of his life and says his father was involved with rodeos as he was growing up. “Calf roping begins with the rider and the horse in the box,” McDonald says. “The calf gets a head start, and after a certain distance, the rider must rope the calf, bring him down and tie him.” The calf has to stay tied for six sec onds, and three legs must be tied. It is easiest to tie one front leg and two back legs, he says. At most rodeos, it is possible to compete against 60 to 70 people. Mc Donald says a good run is from nine to 10 seconds, but with new techniques, eight to nine and sometimes seven seconds is what it takes to win. “Alot of people can rope,” McDon ald says. “But if you can’t tie, that’s where the speed comes in.” It is easy to tell that he enjoys rop ing as he points out the individuality of the sport. “You don't have to depend on other people —you’re the only one you can blame,” he says. “If I make a good run, I’m pleased. If not, I am usually frus trated and I try to think about what I did wrong.” His father helps him practice, he says. “He watches me and he films me with our video camera,” McDonald says. "That helps a lot.” He also has been to Walter Beaver’s Roping School. Walter Beaver is the father of the world champion calf page 6 By Terri Welch roper, Joe Beaver. McDonald team ropes in addition to calf roping. In this event, one partner is the “header,” roping the steer’s horns and turning him to the left. The “heeler” ropes the back two feet. “I’ve done both calf roping and team roping, and I like them equally," he says. But roping would not be possible without Maude and Starbert C. Hope, McDonald’s two quarter horses. He practices with one and competes with the other. have had three roping horses all together,” he said. "My first horse died. It affected me somewhat, but don’t get too attached to them, “Both horses have an attitude,” Mc Donald says, laughing. “But I overlook that —they get the job done.” Roping horses can cost anywhere between $2,000 and $15,000, he said. McDonald says it can get expen sive, but if you are good, then you win money. “There are about 10 to 15 people in the A&M Rodeo Club who rodeo,” he said. “We try to go together and it helps to split expenses.” Many cliches surround the rodeo and cowboys. McDonald says the only changes he can see in rodeos from the past to the present have to do with treating the animals humanely. There is a regulation at certain rodeos that if a calf is dragged more than a certain amount of feet, the rider is fined. "People are worried about the calves getting hurt,” he said. "But with a 350-pound calf, you're going to get hurt before the animal does.” Although he is preparing to enter professional rodeos in a year or two, McDonald likes to go dancing and waterskiing when he is not practicing. He plans to go into agriculture man agement or business when he grad uates. Modern-day cowboy Stan McDonald and A&M students spend their spare time in the rodeo arena. February 21,1991 Life Style magazine page/ cover story