Sandy Suter and Trish Kohorst have given themselves the chance to lasso some serious cash.
Suter and Kohorst, cowgirls from Prince George and Vanderhoof respectively, will compete in the World Series of Team Roping Finale in Las Vegas in December. At the World Series, winning teams have been known to ride out of town with $200,000 in prize money.
Suter and Kohorst will be making their debut at the World Series, which will be run in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo. The fact they'll be roping against the best in the world -- and doing it with so much dough up for grabs -- has them bubbling with anticipation.
"There is life-altering amounts of money to be won," said the 33-year-old Suter, who laughingly added that she knows exactly where her share of any loot would be spent. "I'm sure my rodeo gambling problem will keep going."
The 43-year-old Kohorst, meanwhile, said some of her riches would probably be invested in children, living expenses and community projects. And, of course, paying the entry fees for more roping events would become a little easier.
"The rest we would waste on team roping and saddles and tack and feed for horses," she said with a chuckle.
In team roping, mounted riders try to bring down a steer in the quickest time possible. The first roper takes the head and the second roper takes the heels. On their team, Suter is the header and Kohorst is the heeler. Team roping is open to men and women but is typically a male-dominated sport.
For Suter and Kohorst, qualifying for the World Series is a remarkable accomplishment all by itself. They snared trips to Las Vegas when they finished second in a 140-team division at a weekend gathering in Fort St. John. Their four-run combined time was 43 seconds and change, which stands as a career-best.
"We've roped together a fair bit over the season and practiced together and things just came together for us," Kohorst said. "It's a great facility up there, the steers were good and our horses worked well."
If the partners put up a similar time at the World Series, they should be in contention for the cash.
"We might have to be a little bit faster, but not much," Suter said. "We had a pretty outstanding weekend."
Teams hailing from Canada, the United States and Mexico will showcase their riding and roping skills at the World Series.
Suter and Kohorst have known each other for years but are relatively new teammates in the roping arena. Suter convinced Kohorst, known formerly for her barrel racing exploits, to give roping a try a few years ago. Kohorst still zips around the barrels but has thoroughly enjoyed roping.
"It's definitely a change but it's been great," said Kohorst, who is president of the BC Rodeo Association. "It hones different skills as far as your horsemanship goes."
As a team, Suter and Kohorst are sponsored by Fountain Tire. Kohorst also has sponsorship from Spectrum Resource Group.
The Vanderhoof team of Josh Siemens and Delmar Siemens also had a shining weekend in Fort St. John and qualified in their division for the World Series.
