Here at X Factor Team Roping, we’re proud to have legendary roper Jade Corkill as one of our esteemed coaches. Jade Corkill brings forth a wealth of knowledge, experience, and skill from his long career in team roping. Anyone interested in the sport can learn a lot from what he has to say. If you’re not familiar with all of his accolades, then saddle up and find out what made Jade Corkill a legend in the sport. Early Career Best Moments Jade Corkill practically grew up in the saddle. He spent most of his childhood roping on his family’s ranch in Nevada and his early love of the sport made him ..read more

Can’t get roping out of your head? Do you dream of roping in the big leagues? You may have the makings of a top-notch team roper. Team roping  is a rodeo event that starts with a rider on horseback. He or she will try to catch a steer with a rope. The sport started as a task cowboys had to perform, roping steers and calves to brand them or give them medical attention. Over time, it evolved into a competition to see who could rope a steer the fastest. It can be an entertaining and thrilling sport, but success takes lots of practice. You can train with live steers of course, but this often ..read more

Team roping is a rodeo event where two contestants work together to rope and immobilize a steer. The ropers each have a role; one serves as the header and the other as a heeler. Their goal is to cooperate in their roles and rope the steer in the least amount of time possible. Team roping is a difficult, and entertaining event. If you’re new to team roping as a spectator or a participant, there are some important rules to understand. This includes the crossfire rule, which we’ll soon discuss. So, what is a crossfire in team roping? Read on to learn that and much more. All About Team Roping Tea ..read more

How many of us mimicked breakaway roping when we were kids? All you needed was a piece of rope, a little brother or a pet, and opportunity. Some of us never outgrew the love of the chase, followed by an accurate throw. If you want to do all that while riding on four hooves, welcome to breakaway roping! In this post we’ll explain what breakaway roping is, competition rules, different types of ropes, which horses make the best roping partners, and more. Plus, we have tips from Jackie Crawford who is a nineteen-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Champion and has a lot of valuable ..read more

Team roping was born out of necessity hundreds of years ago, on the ranches of the Old West. Cowboys learned to work together to bring down a steer. This way they could treat injuries or brand an animal once it was safely restrained. Nowadays, this dynamic and adrenaline-filled sport brings loads of excitement to arenas all over the country. But before a cowboy or cowgirl can throw their hat into the ring, they have to start with the basics. One of the first steps is choosing the right team roping ropes. In this post we’ll discuss rope characteristics and how even the steer itself can influen ..read more

Maybe you’ve just acquired a heel horse and are starting at square one. Or maybe you have a little experience under your belt, and are honing in on your roping technique. Either way, this guide can help you learn how to train your heel horse from the very beginning.  Even a horse that’s used to being ridden will have to acclimate to several new things to be a successful heel horse. It will have to get used to seeing the rope, following a dummy, and later, chasing cattle. You’ll also have to learn how you want it to approach the steer during and after your throw.  Experienced team rop ..read more

Team roping in the US traces back to 1521, with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, who brought Andalusian cattle to Florida. Long after they left, the cattle stayed with the settlers, who built ranches and transported their cattle across the country. In the 1800s, day workers on the ranches had to safely catch cattle and restrain them, to treat illness, brand, or tag them. Art imitates life, as the saying goes. Necessary skills evolved into an exciting, adrenaline-filled team sport. Let’s find out what today’s team roping looks like, how it’s judged, and what makes a winning team. What ..read more

Near 30 years ago this movie Cool Runnings hit the big screen. I saw It in the theater with my brother and my cousin in Montpelier, Idaho, where I grew up. We all can get motivated and inspired by different things. This one was even funny. In a nutshell, the movie has 4 young men from Jamaica that want to compete in the Olympics. When their chances at summer games are gone, they turned to a winter sport. They chose the bobsled. They got a coach, a multi gold medal winner, who lived on the island, and went to work. They went to Canada. None of them had ever seen snow or ice. They were as inexpe ..read more

One of the most common questions I get asked is how long do I give a horse before I decide to move on to another one. Is it 6 months? Is it a year? And when will I know that I have gotten all that I can out of one with my own personal riding skill and it might be time for them to go live somewhere else. Though this is definitely a million dollar question with no clear cut perfect answer, perhaps I can shed some light on the subject to at least help you make a decision. The timelines displayed here are a minimum of what I expect from a horse and usually most quality animals will be farther alon ..read more

Isn’t it interesting how some of the best rope horses in the world can be a little hard to be around? Some are a little quirky on the ground while others might try to buck you off when it’s even a little chilly. Others still are just terrible to ride anywhere that is not the roping pen. Though there are some high level horses that are as gentle as kids horses, a large majority have certain quirks about them. I think this is a disjunction in our horsemanship community and maybe our world as well. We expect high level performers to be excellent at everything in life and this is just not always ..read more