Lance Koppenhafer Championship 2017
by Terry Allen
August 28, 2017
Lance Koppenhafer seemed to be a friend to everyone in the county and when he passed on, folks who loved him wanted him to be remembered. He really enjoyed team roping so that’s why we have this team roping championship named after him. Everybody agrees he was just an easy guy to be around. He helped the community with everything; and the arena in Big Piney is dedicated to him.
I heard a couple of squeaky voiced "howdy's" as I went around the far side of the roping arena and found old friends Frankie, Jubal and their Grandma Lori. Frankie proudly introduced me to her horse Spur. "Spur is a quarter horse," she said. "He's a boy gelding and we've been partners for three years. I barrel race with him in Jackson three nights a week."
Jubal was busy throwing a rope on his roping dummy but his dog tripped him up with his leash and he had a hard time pulling his boots out of the snare. "Butch is a boy dog," he said. "He's a border collie/blue healer cross."
Kaleb and Cale were running the stripping chute. That's where the roped steers get loose of the ropes on their heads and their heels. Kaleb poked Cale in the chest with a rolled up wad of greenbacks and said: "Yer' gonna be on yer' own for a bit, I'm goin' for a burger." and off he went.
Later in the day a lone cowboy went over to the Burger Barn trailer and got himself a cold one to wash down the dust of the roping arena that had accumulated somewhere between his lips and his gums.
Thank you Dawn Ballou of Pinedale Online for hiring me to do this important local story. Online stories never end up in a bird cage which is one reason I like doing them. It makes them sort of immortal ;-) Your photographer, Terry Allen: txpartisan@gmail.com
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