LEO AND THE JACKASS ROPIN

back in the mid 1960 s the California wolves were commin to Arizona in the winter time and makin a liven off the Arizona team ropin community.  the sport was evolving to dally ropin and the California boys were a step ahead of the rest of us as they never were tie down team ropers.  in Arizona it had been tied down since the days of dinosaurs.  I knew a lot of cowboys who at the ranch would dally their rope but the minute they rode into the arena  would tie that rope hard and fast to the saddle horn.  that's just the way it was done.  most of us here in the desert that were under 0 were converting pretty well those over were struggling a bit and some just plain quit instead of rope burnin their hands.  a lot of those big ole stout tie down horses were being converted too, and believe me it was a chore for some of them to figger out what facing was with out dragging the heel horse or burnnin up the heel ropes and cooking some of those heelers hands.  it was quite a time.  into this cauldron of ropes and ropers came leo camarillo and his brother Jerold.  these boys would change team roping for ever with their style of roping. they would stay all winter, going to rodeos and jackpots every week end  and the rest of us supporting them with our entry fees.   one week end they didn't fair so well.  ike kazee produced a tie down jack ass roping at his lucky seven arena in south phoenix. about 60 or so teams were entered which was a big ropin in those days.  leo and Jerold had borrowed tie down mounts and were entered with leo heading.  now tie down roping a jack ass is no walk in the park. after being roped once those jacks develop  a bag of nasty tricks. stopping in front of the head horse, kicking the heel horse as the heeler dives in for a throw, braying at the most inopportune time and scaring the hell outa those town horses. keeping two feet in a heel loop while you pull slack and drive out of the hole was close to impossible.  after the first go round almost all heel catches were one foot catches. in tie down team roping a one foot catch did not earn a penalty, but the header had to still tie two hind legs together while his horse held the rope tight and the heeler pulled in the opposite direction effectively stretching the animal between the two. simple right? think again. on cattle it wasn't that big a deal, on jack ass es it was down right life threatning.  in the second round leo turned his jack ass and brother rolled in, rope a hind foot and turned out stretching  mr jack ass and laying him on the ground. when leo saw the heel loop tighten he had stepped off his head horse in preparation for the tie.  as he ran down the rope toward the ass he saw the loose leg on that animal flaying back and forth like a sickle bar on a mowing machine. as he reached the jack the burro popped his teeth at him. with that leo coiled his tie string , turned and walked back to his horse mumbling about roping animals who would kick and bite wasn't a fair practice. Arizonans were nuts!!