Rockey Ramone (opens in a new tab), 29, has worked for Mathews Land and Cattle for four years. Just a few months ago, while Ramone was working at a roping in South Texas, he couldn’t help but notice a young roper who was struggling with his roping.
“This kid was roping good but he wasn’t doing the things that you need to win,” said Ramone, from Taylor, Arizona. “He was asking all his partners, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I looked at the kid and I asked him, ‘Do you want some advice?’ and he said, ‘Yes! What am I doing wrong?’”
Ramone offered some of the simplest advice that definitely stuck with the kid.
“I told him, ‘Just start from what you know then finish it off.’”
Ramone watched and cheered quietly from his post at the stripping chute as the young boy surged in the roping after taking his advice to heart.
“He only had one run left in the saddle roping,” Ramone said. “I was talking to the kid and he roped two feet on the first steer. Then, on the second steer, he came around and roped two feet. I told him, ‘Hey buddy, if you do that all day, ain’t nobody going to beat you.’”
Ramone made a bet with the roper.
“I told him that when he wins, I wanted a prize,” Ramone said. “Sure enough, he won the roping. He gave me a buckle, which was kind and nice of the kid. He said, ‘I won’t ever forget you buddy.’ And I said, ‘I’m not too good with names, but I’ll remember this day.’”
Despite having won plenty of his own, Ramone wears the buckle from that day as a reminder of the good will shared.
