Dear Ropers, 

Welcome to our true passion project. The ladies behind The Breakaway Roping Journal have been toiling in this industry for years, writing about anybody who swings a rope. But that’s usually meant the guys and occasional ladies of team roping, a sport that has helped propel the Western industry into big business in the 21st Century. 

With much thanks to the explosion and model of team roping, the sport of breakaway roping has also grown. More dads had heel horses that could run and stop—perfect for their young daughters to borrow for the junior rodeos. More moms had the roping bug, too, ready to help their kids keep their tips down and score sharp. And legends—Hall of Fame ladies who’ve persevered in this industry in good times and bad—pushed for more events, more schools, more ropers. And that all led to the thinking that breakaway roping is the new frontier, the next place to help grow the roping industry and empower ropers to strive for greatness in a new way. 

Our staff is so honored to step in to do our parts to help the sport of breakaway roping get to the next level. We’re here to share your stories, because the more you know what other ropers are doing, working on, learning, the more you’ll learn and the more you’ll grow. That knowledge, then, will fuel you to rope better, rope more, enter more. And rope companies will need to make more ropes, horse breeders will see more demand for great prospects and more committees and producers will be inspired to add breakaway to their schedules. 

We’re all-in on this sport, and we’re honored you’re allowing us to be a part of this. Is there a story you want to see? Email me ([email protected]). I want to know about it. Are we hitting the mark? Missing something? We’re here to serve the sport, so we want to know how we’re doing.

Looking forward to this ride. It’s time.

Chelsea Shaffer

Editor