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, Texas
The scenario, according to the elder Strait, is real enough. “We try to practice every day we’re home,” he says. “We usually ride three horses apiece and rope a pen of cattle on each one.”
Measured in seconds, the sport of team roping, in its most basic form, involves two cowboys, two horses, and one steer. It tests a rider’s speed, agility, and finesse with the rope. Strait, who’s a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, explains the rest: “The first cowboy—the header—ropes the steer around the horns. The second cowboy—the heeler—follows and attempts to rope both hind legs of the steer. When both cowboys are successful with their ropes tight and their horses both facing the steer, the clock is stopped. If the header goes before the steer releases, a 10-second penalty is given. Also, if the heeler only ropes one leg, a 5-second penalty is given. If either misses, a ‘no time’ is given.”
The sport actually grew out of the necessity for ranchers to immobilize cattle, which may need everything from medical attention to branding. But for Strait, it’s all about being in that moment where instinct takes over and the world seems to fade away.
“When you’re in the middle of a run, it’s more of a reacting situation,” he says. “You’re reacting to what the steer does and just doing what you’ve spent hours in the practice pen doing, without thinking, just reacting. Like most sports, you definitely have that adrenaline rush, especially when you win. There’s nothing like that feeling.”
In fact, Strait’s such a fan that the nation’s premiere team roping event carries his name and support. The 2003 George Strait Team Roping Classic took place March 14-15 at the Rose Palace in San Antonio, Texas, and saw ropers come from around the country to vie for more than $300,000 in cash and prizes. The event originated 21 years ago as a small family open in Kingsville, Texas (pop. 25,375). “It was an open roping event, meaning anyone could enter, but we limited it to Texas residents only,” Strait says. “What can I say? I’m from Texas.
“Anyway, it stayed that way for a few years until we decided to open it up to the world. When we did this, it really grew, not only in size but also in reputation. Although the years in Kingsville were great, we were looking to make some changes and about four years ago we moved it to the Rose Palace. We also changed the dates to March, a much cooler time of the year. As you may be able to tell, I’m extremely proud of our event.”
In addition to the chance to take home prizes, many ropers attend the event for the chance to compete against some of the most famous icons of the sport. “The thing about this team roping is that it really is the biggest open roping in the country; with it being open we get all levels of ropers,” says Strait’s older brother Buddy Strait, who helps coordinate the event. “Out there you’ll find world champions warming up next to amateurs. It’s like being able to golf in the Masters tournament.”
This year, a well-practiced Strait and his son Bubba competed together in the event. They ended their two rounds with a time of 15.88 seconds, less than three seconds shy of making the top 50.
The bond between father and son is something that goes back to Strait and his own father, John, who taught him how to ride and schooled him on cattle. A native of Pearsall, Texas (pop. 7,490), he grew up helping out on the 2,000-acre family ranch in nearby Big Wells. “My dad was raised on a ranch and later became a school teacher in a town about 40 miles from where I was raised,” Strait says. “On weekends and summers we spent most of our time there. He worked us pretty hard at times, but at the end of the day you always felt like you accomplished something, whether it was fixing a fence or working cattle.”
These days, Strait is busy on his own ranch, where in addition to practicing roping, he also raises quarter horses and roping cattle. The knowledge he’s accumulated about horses, cattle, and ranching has academic ties as well. Strait graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1979 with a degree in agriculture education. “I never really thought I’d be a teacher, but I did think that I would forever be involved in some kind of agriculture activity, and I am,” he says. “When I first graduated, I wanted to ranch, but I wanted to sing more. I think things have worked themselves out pretty well.”
Pretty well, indeed, considering he has more Number 1 singles (50, to be exact) than any single artist of any genre, he sells out arenas across the United States, and his newest album, Honkytonkville, is destined for million-seller status. For Strait, the idea of a music career materialized in the early 1970s after he signed up for a three-year hitch in the Army. Stationed in Hawaii, he bought a cheap guitar and some old Hank Williams songbooks, and began learning his craft. He soon got a band together and started to entertain his fellow troops. After the Army, he and wife Norma—his high school sweetheart and now bride of more than 30 years—returned to Texas. Looking to make music a career, he posted a notice on a campus bulletin board, stating, “Country Singer Needs Band.” Thus came the first incarnation of The Ace in the Hole Band. They quickly built a regional following in Texas dance halls and eventually Nashville took notice. In 1981, Strait released his debut album, Strait Country, and the rest is history.
Since then, he’s won every music award imaginable, he’s sold more than 58 million albums, and his hits (Amarillo By Morning, Unwound, She’ll Leave You With A Smile) have become the soundtrack to small town Saturday nights. His latest album, Honkytonkville, continues that tradition, with songs of love (Infinite Love), heartbreak (Desperately), and jukebox classics in the making (Honk If You Honky Tonk). It seems fans can’t get enough of the charismatic cowboy. The album’s first single, Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa, has already become a staple on country radio.
But it’s still that time he spends on horseback, practicing his roping on his homestead that seems to put it all in perspective. “You learn to appreciate a good horse,” Strait concludes. “You learn about having good cattle and how to take care of them. You learn how to take care of the land and its needs so that it takes care of you. It makes you appreciate more of what God gave us.”
In January, Strait was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.
