Out Of The Chute
Lawyer Cowboy- Jim Gilbert
By Fred Tscheulin

     Many of our readers know Jim Gilbert as a local attorney. Few are aware that he is bent on becoming a highly competitive team roper.
     Jim has ridden horses most of his life, but it wasn’t until he met his wife Michelle, about seven years ago, that he began trail riding on a regular basis. To enhance their enjoyment they bought horses, a trailer and truck so they could take trail riding trips on the weekends.
     “We used to go trail riding  a lot at Mount Rogers on the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail,” Jim said, “and also on the mountains near South Holsten Lake overlooking the Bristol Motor Speedway.”
     Jim and Michelle have also been on week-long rides in Wyoming and on one such trip helped round up loose horses and drive them to the owner’s ranch. About two years ago, the couple purchased  90 acres of farmland on Rt. 122 and began  the development of Shadow Ridge Stables. Jim and Michelle now have five horses of their own and board 23, turning their hobby into a full-time business. They offer full/pasture boarding, equine transport services, horsemanship classes and beginner western saddle lessons. Michelle handles all business aspects of Shadow Ridge as well as caring for all equine residents. She holds a Paralegal Degree along with Certificates in Equine First Aid, Stable Management and Equine Breeding and Reproduction.
     Jim threw his first rope off a horse in September 2004, and he’s been team roping every week since.
  “It’s like a fever; it gets in your blood,” he explained, “But team roping is not a sport where you wake up one morning and say, let’s go ropin’. You need trained horses and to be knowledgeable about horses and how to care for them; you need a team partner, and you need to have the right gear and equipment. And then you must devote the time and energy required to develop the skills needed to become competitive in this very fast sport.”
     It’s quite a leap from trail riding to the fast action of rodeo team roping. Through the persistent encouragement of Jeff Taylor, a local farrier (blacksmith), Jim and Michelle and some friends were introduced to the sport in early 2004. They were bitten by the bug. That led to the purchase of two well-trained horses from a local businessman, Dale Simmons, an experienced rodeo team roper himself, more gear and lots and lots of practice. Most every Tuesday or Thursday evening you will find Jim throwing a rope at the Broken Bow arena located about a mile off route 24 in Bedford, getting ready for Weekend competition.
     “Sometimes we will participate in two competitive events on the same weekend,” he said. “It can be exhausting, but we love it”.
  According to the Professional Rodeo Cowboy web site, team roping, the only true team event in rodeo, requires close cooperation and timing between two highly skilled ropers – a header and a heeler – and their horses. The event originated on ranches when cowboys needed to treat or brand steers, and the task proved too difficult for one man. Jim is the header on his team.
     Similar to tie down ropers and steer wrestlers, team ropers start from the boxes on each side of a chute though which the steer enters the arena. The steer gets a head start determined by the length of the arena. A breakaway barrier controls when the header can take off in pursuit with the heeler slightly further behind.
     The header ropes first and must make one of three legal catches on the steer; around both horns, around one horn and head, or around the neck. After making his catch, he dallies the rope around the saddle horn and turns the steer to the left, exposing the steer’s hind legs to the heeler who attempts to rope both hind legs. After the cowboys catch the steer the clock is stopped when there is no slack in their ropes and their horses face one another. All this happens in five to ten seconds! However, if the header breaks the barrier before the steer completes his head start, the ropers are assessed a 10-second penalty. And if the heeler catches only one foot, the team is assessed a five-second penalty. Both speed and accuracy are essential to achieve a competitive score in this sport.
     Another important aspect of a team roping event is the type of horses used by the ropers. The American quarter horse is the most popular among all timed-event competitors, particularly team ropers. Heading horses generally are taller and heavier because they need the power to turn the steer after it is roped. Heeling horses are quick and agile, enabling them to better follow the steer and react to its moves.
     Jim has two highly trained heading horses. Gray is 19 years old and Henry is 14 years old. He said he didn’t know where the names came from, but Michelle’s horse named ‘84’ represents the stock number at the western horse auction.
  For more information about Shadow Ridge, you can visit online at www.shadowridgestables.com.