Westman team ropers win big at Vegas

Local team ropers Kyle Dalgliesh of Virden and Brendan Fisk of Alexander, (formerly Oak Lake) have returned from the world team roping competition with a $200,000 prize in their pockets.

Having roped together for over 20 years, they exemplify the team effort in team roping. This past December, Dalgliesh and Fisk headed to Las Vegas for an event they’ve qualified for every year since 2009, the Ariat World Series of Team Roping where they rose to second place among 499 teams.

“It was an experience,” says Kyle Dalgliesh. “When you end up winning $100,000 a man against those guys, things have to go smoothly.

“We’ve been working a long time and we’ve been working hard, so it was nice to complete the course.”

Fisk explains they competed in three rounds and in the last round of the short go, they came back in the second highest position to qualify for a fourth round.

There’s no room for error in this rodeo ring. “If you miss one, you’re out. We roped four steers successfully,” he says.

They finished with an average time of 32 seconds over all four catches.

In team roping, timing is the key. Dalgliesh, the header, makes his catch first, and swings the steer slightly so heeler Fisk can rope both hind legs, for a legal catch. The clock stops when there’s no slack in their ropes and the horses are facing one another.

Fisk credits his sorrel gelding Jaxs, saying, “He’s a special horse. He’s eight or nine. I trained him to rope. He mainly has to listen to me and pay attention to the steer.”

Dalgliesh’s 17-year-old bay gelding Curly didn’t begin his career as a roping horse. “I’ve had him for 10 years. He hadn’t seen a rope really when I got him. He was in that cutting horse world, a turn back horse, a ranch horse.”

Fisk, an excavator operator and Dalgliesh, employed with Heritage Equipment at Virden, are amateur ropers who pursue their sport with professionalism, expecting to do well.

“I think every time we leave home, we feel that way. We always try to be well practised, ready to go and compete - every time,” says Dalgliesh. He adds that this, their best ever win, “still hasn’t set in.”

They will not be resting on their laurels. Dalgliesh states, “We’re going to keep going. Not a doubt about it. I’m hooked, I’ve got the addiction.”