Former Vanderhoof resident Barbara Beers went to Arizona trying to learn how to rope steers.
She went to one of the top team roping schools in the United States to find out how it's done and ended up snagging a husband in the process.
Her teacher, Mike Beers, has done some amazing things in the rodeo arena in his career. He's a five-time Canadian Finals Rodeo qualifier who has been to the National Finals Rodeo 24 times, teaming up with Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Dee Pickett of Idaho to win the team roping world championship in 1984.
Beers still holds the all-time Canadian pro rodeo team roping record of 3.4 seconds he set in 2009 with header Shane Schwenke of Montana at the Wrangler Canadian Tour Championship in Calgary. Beers also has the CFR team roping record of 3.7 seconds, set in November 2008 with his son Brandon as the header.
In team roping, two riders on horseback try to catch a running steer in the arena. The header lassos the horns or head of the steer, then hooks the rope onto the saddle and the heeler then has to toss a rope around both heels of the steer to stop the clock.
Beers has made it his livelihood and runs schools throughout the winter months on his ranch near Cave Creek, Ariz. On Sunday he and Barbara (nee Duff) were competing in Prince George at the Great Northern Rockin' Rodeo at the BCNE.
"My wife ropes breakaway and team ropes at the amateur rodeos so this year I've kind of retired from the rodeo deal (since 2007) and I've been going to the amateur rodeos with her and it's been fun," said the 57-year-old Beers. "I've never been up in northern B.C. before and what great crowd.
"Amateur rodeos are kind of where we started. I did the rodeo series for almost 30 years where we did 100 rodeos a year. Now this is a hobby instead of an occupation for me and the people up here are awesome."
Beers entered the team roping as a heeler, teaming up with Chad Evanson and later, Ryan McNaughton. Each time Beers caught just one leg as the heeler and that added five seconds to his times.
Beers retired from pro tie-down roping in 2000 but showed he's still got it Sunday. His 12-second time with Evanson was good enough for sixth place.
His wife, who turned 48 on Friday, was hoping for a better homecoming with the Vanderhoof crowd watching her in the breakaway roping but she missed her calf.
"I got a great start and missed my throw opportunity - it was driver error," she laughed.
She would have entered in team roping but her partner and daughter, Hanna Strate, 16, was back home working in Kamloops.
Barbara is a former figure skater and is just beginning her rodeo career after years of watching her kids compete. Originally from Prelate, Sask., she moved to Vanderhoof with the Duff family for her Grade 7 year and she left for Kamloops when she was 18.
"I used to summer skate with the Vanderhoof club and took lessons in Prince George and did that all through high school but I don't skate very much anymore, I spend all my time with horses," she said.
Mike and Barbara spend their winters in Arizona and she gets her share of free lessons.
"It's a little bit intimidating but you have to kind of leave your feelings at the gate if you want to go in there and learn to become a team roper and breakaway and anything to do with horsemanship or handling a rope," she said. "He's a coach in the arena and outside he's a husband and a great father."
