The 2024 ProRodeo season may have come to an end, but the team roping action hasn't slowed down. The final weekend of the ProRodeo season we also crowned champions at the 2024 Riata, and Oct. 6, the Clay Logan Open named its victors.

On this episode of The Short Score, we hear from the Riata #14.5 champions, Reed Boos on Yes Im Sassy and Cord Forzano on Smartlookncat. We also catch up with Bubba Buckaloo and Joseph Harrison, winners of the 2024 Clay Logan Open.

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• Hurricane Helene: How the Roping Community Can Help
• Who Deserves the 2024 AQHA/PRCA Heel Horse of the Year Award?
• The Short Score: Pendleton Champs
• Who Deserves the 2024 PRCA/AQHA Head Horse of the Year Title? And WHY?
• Jake Smith’s ProRodeo Breakthrough, 12 Years in the Making

The Team Roping Journal's Chelsea Shaffer sits down with Cindy Perez of Cat5 Resources, and owner of up and coming stallion, The Animal, to discuss the horrifying impact of Hurricane Helene on the East Coast region. They discuss trusted nonprofits and how the roping community can offer aid, donations and more to the devastated areas.

With the regular season over, the top 25 heelers will now vote on who deserves the award for AQHA/PRCA Heel Horse of the Year. The Score tapped Logan Medlin, Jake Long, Wesley Thorp, Levi Lord and Paul Eaves for their opinions on who deserves the coveted bronze and the $5,000 prize that goes with it.

Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord have take 2024 by storm as the world standings leaders with $187,771.70 won on the year. Saturday, Sept. 14, Egusquiza and Lord also added the Pendleton Round-Up to their resumes.

Egusquiza and Lord roped three steers in 17.9 seconds and pocketed $12,223 a piece between the rounds and the average. The win also locked them in as the No. 1 team in the PRCA Playoff Series standings heading into the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls at the end of the month, an opportunity they missed by one point in 2023.

On this episode of The Short Score, Egusquiza and Lord talk about the Pendleton Round-Up team roping win, the year they've had and more.

Confidently address your horse's unique weight needs and help optimize their overall well-being with research-proven Purina Animal Nutrition feeds — designed by passionate equine nutritionists. Partner with Purina to nourish your horse to their optimal body condition. Explore weight management resources for your horse today at purinamills.com/feed-finder.

• Who Deserves the 2024 PRCA/AQHA Head Horse of the Year Title? And WHY?
• Jake Smith's ProRodeo Breakthrough, 12 Years in the Making
• How Kory Koontz Found Life in ProRodeo Retirement
• The Short Score: Hermiston and More
• JoJo LeMond: On Going Home & Starting Over

Which horse deserves to be named the 2024 PRCA/AQHA Head Horse of the Year? And why?

We get Brenten Hall, Coleman Proctor, Dustin Egusquiza, Tanner Tomlinson and Tyler Wade to weigh in on who's the best of the best over 80 rodeos in the PRCA.

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This week’s episode of The Score is presented by Fast Back Ropes’ Hombre.

Fast Back Ropes is thrilled to unveil its latest innovation in roping technology: the Hombre. After rigorous testing by Fast Back endorsees over the past year, the Hombre is set to redefine performance expectations in team roping.

A four-strand crafted with a core, the Hombre stands out with its vibrant orange color, ensuring exceptional visibility in any arena. Its smaller diameter and rough exterior are meticulously designed to enhance grip, making it ideal for swift and precise maneuvers around the saddle horn.

“The Hombre represents a significant advancement in our team rope lineup,” said Coy Upchurch, General Manager at Fast Back Ropes. “It offers a relaxed feel combined with superior functionality that ropers of all levels will appreciate. Our endorsees have given it high praise during testing.”

Available in both head and heel variations, the Hombre head rope spans 31 feet and is offered in XX-Soft, X-Soft, Soft, and MS lays. Meanwhile, the 35-foot heel rope options include Soft, MS, Medium, and HM lays. This versatility ensures that every roper can find a Hombre rope suited to their specific needs.

“The Hombre is designed to meet the demands of competitive ropers who seek precision and reliability,” added Upchurch. “We’re excited to bring this game-changing rope to market and anticipate it will make waves in the roping community.”

The Hombre will be available for purchase at retail locations starting September 1st, marking a new era in team roping technology. For more information about the Hombre and Fast Back Ropes’ complete product offerings, visit fastbackropes.com.

Jake Smith has been toiling away in his arena in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, training horses and paying his dues in anticipation of this moment. Smith, 31, is sixth in the PRCA World Standings with $110,777 won on the head side after spending most of his career a heeler.

Smith is a Wildfire Open to the World Champion as a heeler, and in 2023 he won the Riata Championship Open with Douglas Rich, his best friend and rodeo partner.

We called Smith to discuss which horse should be Head Horse of the Year, but in Smith had plenty to say, so we're sharing the whole interview because it's well worth it.

Kory Koontz qualified for 22 Wrangler National Finals Rodeos, won the NFR average title in 1997 and won every major jackpot along the way.

But when he stepped away from professional rodeo—after seasoning iconic reacher Dustin Egusquiza—Koontz found himself re-creating his life from the ground up, learning how to budget and to manage a teaching business, all while starting life with his new wife.

Along the way, Koontz learned some valuable lessons that he shares in this week's episode of The Score.

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This week's episode of The Score is presented by Fast Back Ropes' Hombre.

Fast Back Ropes is thrilled to unveil its latest innovation in roping technology: the Hombre. After rigorous testing by Fast Back endorsees over the past year, the Hombre is set to redefine performance expectations in team roping.

A four-strand crafted with a core, the Hombre stands out with its vibrant orange color, ensuring exceptional visibility in any arena. Its smaller diameter and rough exterior are meticulously designed to enhance grip, making it ideal for swift and precise maneuvers around the saddle horn.

"The Hombre represents a significant advancement in our team rope lineup," said Coy Upchurch, General Manager at Fast Back Ropes. "It offers a relaxed feel combined with superior functionality that ropers of all levels will appreciate. Our endorsees have given it high praise during testing."

Available in both head and heel variations, the Hombre head rope spans 31 feet and is offered in XX-Soft, X-Soft, Soft, and MS lays. Meanwhile, the 35-foot heel rope options include Soft, MS, Medium, and HM lays. This versatility ensures that every roper can find a Hombre rope suited to their specific needs.

"The Hombre is designed to meet the demands of competitive ropers who seek precision and reliability," added Upchurch. "We're excited to bring this game-changing rope to market and anticipate it will make waves in the roping community."

The Hombre will be available for purchase at retail locations starting September 1st, marking a new era in team roping technology. For more information about the Hombre and Fast Back Ropes' complete product offerings, visit fastbackropes.com.

It was a weekend for the "underdogs" with teams outside the Top 15 raking in and climbing in the PRCA world standings.

Tanner Tomlinson and Patrick Smith have been fighting tooth and nail to climb in the standings, and they’ve landed themselves both at 21st in the world after a $14,064-a-man weekend. Tomlinson and Smith won the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston, Oregon, picking up $10,101 each. They won $2,546 a man for second at the Lea County PRCA Rodeo in Lovington, New Mexico, and $1,417 a man for eighth in Logan, Utah, at the Cache County Fair and Rodeo. On this episode of The Short Score, Tomlinson briefly talks about their weekend, how they’re climbing in the standings and their mentality going into the last few weeks of the 2024 season.

The Short Score also breaks down some other big winners over the Aug. 7-11, weekend.

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• JoJo LeMond: On Going Home & Starting Over
• The Short Score: Old West Part 2
• The Short Score: From Utah to Cheyenne
• How to Market Your Rope Horses with Elite Equine Promotions
• The Short Score: From the NFR Open to Salinas