 |  |
| ROPRO Training Systems |
| |
Saddle Endorsements
Saddle Endorsements
When I drove to Round Rock, TX (now in Hico, TX) from Cherryville, NC to pick up my Slick-Stick and Sled, I had just purchased a new, name brand, custom made saddle a few weeks earlier, so, quite frankly, another new saddle was the farthest thing from my mind. While taking instruction on "Ol' Slick" I couldn't help notice the ease of getting up in the saddle. I asked and found out I was roping in one of the new ROPRO Upfront saddles. What a difference! I manage a Paint Horse breeding, showing and training business in North Carolina. Prior to that, I trained and showed Quarter Horses and was an AQHA Judge for over 21 years. NEVER have I experienced a saddle that fits, sits, or, in the case of team roping, stands like these saddles built on the David Jones trees. Riders in these saddles ride more correctly. Beginning riders learn to get their balance much quicker. Horses ridden in these saddles train easier and move more correctly. I believe these saddles are the greatest innovation to ever happen in the western riding industry. I produce two ROPRO Training Systems Team Roping Schools per year, here at our facility. The performance of the horses and the ability for people to improve their roping is very obvious in these saddles. At our last school 91% of the people who attended the school ended up purchasing saddles, not because they were pressured into buying but because they could easily see and feel the results from the saddles. David made, for us, Western Pleasure models of the upfront saddle. My experience told me that as comfortable and as horsemanship correct as these saddles fit, they would make great show saddles. We recently won 3 National Championships and one All-Around National Championship at the Pinto National Championship Show in these saddles. Once you've found out how much easier your horse is to train, enjoy how much better your horses work and feel how much easier you and your horse can perform in these David Jones, Upfront, Vertical Balance Saddles, I'm sure you will be as impressed as I am. Ken Backhaus, Cherryville, NC
I bought the first ROPRO Upfront Team Roping Saddle. David Jones said I needed it. He was right about my Slick-Stick and my sled and about the great horse I bought from him. Why should he be wrong about the saddle? This saddle has drastically improved my riding and my roping. If there is a Magic Pill for Team Roping, this is it. I just bought my second Upfront saddle so that I don't have to switch saddles all the time. My other saddles have become obsolete. Nick Fuller Alexander City, AL
David Jones left one of his Upfront saddles for me to try while I was training a calf horse for David's son, Michael. I was, at least, skeptical. I have trained calf horses all my life and have trained several National Finals calf horses. I have never been in a saddle that fits a horse and rider better than the David Jones, Upfront, Vertical Balance saddle. Calf horses just plain work better and more consistent under these saddles. I personally have had a lot of knee and back problems over the last few years, to the point that I felt that I would have to give up roping and training. My knee and back problems have gone away in these saddles. Without a doubt, if it weren't for these saddles, I wouldn't be training horses anymore. Instead, I'm building a new training facility and looking forward to many more years of roping. This is the saddle I've been waiting for, for over 45 years of training horses. Bill Drawe, Seguin, Texas
Training Endorsements
WILLOW BROOK FARMS Dear Editor: This testimonial is being written as a student and producer of the ROPRO Training Systems school taught by David Jones and his son, Michael, which was held at Willow Brook Farms in Catasauqua, PA on October 7th and 8th, 1995. Willow Brook Farms has world wide recognition for its 30 years of experience in promoting a tradition of breeding and raising some of the finest reining Quarter Horses in America. Just like any long-standing tradition, change is inevitable, and Team Roping as a tradition is no exception. For many years, we have revered the teachers and/or professional ropers of the team roping world. Their tradition of teaching has been disseminated to thousands across our country and in foreign lands, yet each has their own teaching style, and therefore each teacher's style and words are open to interpretation. What we see and then think we see is different oft times from what we understood. When we go home from a rope school, we try to put into practice what we think we learned, and we feel we got something out of it, but then things start to fall apart. Then we attend another clinic or hear from someone else and our Team Roping once again becomes clear and then clouded and our roping goes downhill. This is because there has been no clear understanding of what we are supposed to be doing. We have been getting so many different interpretations and a lot of those interpretations have not been based upon logical facts. For the first time in my life, after years of roping schools, little was left to interpretation at the David and Michael Jones ROPRO Training Systems school. For the first time ever I had a chance to practice just like I rope. In fact, I had never realized that I was not practicing as I roped. At the school, I was able to rope the Slick-Stick and then go and rope some steers and come back and practice on the Slick-Stick immediately to isolate the problems with my roping. There, finally, was an integration between what I was practicing and how I was roping cattle. In both cases, the live steers and the Slick-Stick provided me with understandable practice. The Slick-Stick simulated the exact same thing that occurred while I was roping the steers. I was amazed to find out that, unlike roping on the dummies and sawhorses, you actually can practice the way you rope and vice versa. Of course the first day and part of the second day I was just as skeptical as many of the people who hear about the Slick-Stick and I was as questioning as many of the other students at our clinic. We have been taught by the pros and we have been taught to understand and speak a certain language and to rope sawhorses, which has very little to do with, I found out, roping live cattle. When you rope the dummy you stand at a different height and you build muscle memory which is inconsistent with performing the actual task of roping cattle. The angles, the height, and the planes of our swings are completely different and we do different things when we rope the dummy versus roping on the Slick-Stick or live cattle. When I first saw David's ROPRO Training System advertised, I thought, "Here's another toy and here's another dummy that is expensive and that won't give us any real advantage over roping a dummy. Well, wake up, Team Ropers, because, just as I found out, this is the only true way to practice other than roping actual cattle. In fact, this system may be better than roping cattle because of the roper's ability to eliminate the many variables of running down the arena while the roper is trying to learn how to catch consistently. This system allows us to get the proper swing and delivery which will help us no matter what the circumstances are when we're roping actual live cattle in the arena. I've seen it work and it works for me. It builds a consistent pattern of muscle memory, thus allowing us to execute more perfectly when we rope cattle. After I got over my skepticism and I opened myself to David's knowledge, not only did I learn about roping, but I learned an incredible amount of Team Roping horsemanship as well. Not many people realize that David is a very experienced horse trainer, and trains reining and cutting horses as well as team roping horses and thus brings not only his Team Roping teaching methodology to the table, but also unfolded to us great knowledge about working with our own horses in a very practical fashion. Frankly, I learned more at this school than at any other school I have attended, and the proof was in the pudding. Not to brag, but merely to share my enthusiasm, I was able to double hock 10 steers in a row by the second day, once I understood and could apply what he was teaching us. The Slick-Stick and ROPRO Training System works and David Jones' teaching style leaves very little to the imagination. Things are clearly explained and he can explain them in different ways if you do not understand what he said the first time. David does not claim to be a professional Team Roper, but rather a teacher, not unlike many great golf teachers who were able to teach, but do not play on the Pro Tour. Just because you can rope, doesn't necessarily mean you have the ability to transfer your great abilities and skills to others. In David's case, he teaches team roping as it is actually performed by the professionals. This can be evidenced by watching the top pros on video tape. They all do basically the same things, when heading or heeling, but when they teach what they do, we often misinterpret it and too many questions are left unanswered in our minds. I would urge anyone, at any roping ability level, to attend a David and Michael Jones ROPRO Training Systems Team Roping School and to consider the use of this great system. Sincerely, Peter Fuller
Hi, David, I thought I'd better give you an update on the ol' Slick-Stick. As you recall, you delivered it in April and spent a day and a half trying to get rid of all my bad habits. I'd like to be able to tell you a big miracle success story, but to be honest about it, I don't have one. I roped a dummy for so many years that I became a "roping dummy." I worked hard all summer trying to straighten myself out on Slick-Stick but wasn't progressing very fast. Then I heard about your clinic at Willow Brook and decided I'd better to to it and see if I'd missed something. If you recall, my swing still wasn't quite right, nor was my delivery, and I still wasn't riding the corner the way I should. It's hard to break old habits but your clinic showed me what I needed to work on. Mainly it was those three basic things, and I realized that's all heeling is. Everything else people tell you just clutters up your mind. As far as timing goes, it's like you said: Just catch the fet when they come to you like you'd catch a ball. If you practice it enough on Slick-Stick, it will develop. I don't even worry about timing anymore. It's just there. Well, I'm happy to tell you I've improved. I'm not blazing fast but I'm catching most of my cattle by two feet and that's all I need to do. I recently went to an Old Timers Rodeo where I won the team roping, the calf roping and the all-around. Then, last Sunday, I went to a numbered roping. In the #6 I won the first go, first in the average and third in the average. In the #5 I did exactly the same thing. Then they had an open jackpot afterward and I won that. All in all, I've won four buckles, three breast collars, a rope bag and enough cash to pay for your clinic several times over. I've learned that when I make a mistake and miss or leg one, not to worry about what I did wrong. I just concentrate on those three basics and I'll catch the next one by two feet. Six months on Slick-Stick is finally starting to pay off. This roping is getting fun. Thanks, Billy Bean, MA
David Jones is able to communicate team roping better than any other instructor I have ever come across. The ROPRO Training System offers a simple and effective way to learn or improve your team roping. You owe it to yourself to find out about this system and innovative training techniques. - Ken Waller, CA Finally, a school to teach your how to rope steers, not dummies. The horsemanship instruction at these schools is incredible. I wouldn't miss these schools for anything. - Leo Marchand, CA There is a difference. This is truly an informative professional team roping school filled with valuable information for all levels of ropers. We can't wait for our next one. - Nick Fuller, AL I have been to other team roping schools and, quite frankly, I learned more in 1/2 hour at the David and Michael Jones ROPRO Training Systems School I attended than I learned at all the other schools combined. - Art Kemp, CA
To Whom It May Concern: I recently had the opportunity to get well acquainted with David, Linda and Michael Jones and the ROPRO Training System. I am 47 years old; I've been team roping for 17 years, and I am a number 4 roper. Most of my roping has been as a header; however, two years ago I decided to try to become a proficient heeler. I've had some success at heeling, but after attending a Booger Barter Roping in Oklahoma City, and missing some steers I should not have missed, I decided that I was going to get some help to improve my heeling or go back to strictly heading. I wanted a one-on-one training, rather than the traditional roping school that I had attended in the past. After giving it a lot of thought, I remembered meeting David and Michael last December in Las Vegas where they were demonstrating the Slick-Stick. After my initial two-day session with David, Michael and the Slick-Stick, it was obvious that David had invested a lot of time studying the physics of team roping. He possesses the unique ability to explain and demonstrate, using the Slick-Stick, the mechanics of the sport. His patience and ability to communicate, until he feels confident the trainee is comfortable, is outstanding. Some of what he explains and demonstrates is simple logic that you've never thought about before. I have had five one-day sessions with David and Michael, and when I became frustrated, they understood the difficulty that change brings on after years of doing things a certain way. Also, by using the ROPRO Training System to improve my heeling, my heading has also improved. For anyone at any level who wants to become a better roper, David has the knowledge and the equipment to do just that. Sincerely, J. Brent Bedene Arma, Kansas
COUGHLIN PAINT HORSES May 29, 1995 Dear David,
Thanks for the two day training session. I made amazing progress. Your
program really helped me and I plan to continue on this track as soon as
I receive my Slick-Stick equipment.
Sincerely,
COUGHLIN PAINT HORSES November 7,1995 Dear David,
This is a follow-up to my previous letter thanking you for the
Slick-Stick system and particularly thanking you for the training
session on it. Since you introduced me to this system, I have not
thrown a rope at a hay bale roping dummy. My roping has improved a lot!
Sincerely,
General EndorsementsDear David and Linda, I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how much I appreciated the time you both took with me when I bought my Slick Stick this year. I really feel it is important for anyone purchasing one to make the time to spend with you in Texas in order to take advantage of your knowledge and skill. I wish I could have spent more time with you, but be assured I feel the 6 hours I spent with you did more good for me than the many roping schools I have attended for three and four day periods. I may not have "heeling" perfected but now I don't have to guess what I'm doing wrong. I certainly do subscribe to your theory on developing muscle memory and having a realistic method of practice. The Slick-Stick is perfect for accomplishing these goals. I would hope you could spend time with all new Slick-Stick owners showing them what you showed to me. I apologize for taking such a long time to get this letter off to you. I was waiting to let you know about the new truck and trailer I won roping, or that I placed at Guthrie; but none of that happened. However, I am confident enough in my roping now to think the big "win" could happen at the next roping. Best Regards, Dick Van Pelt Laramie, Wyoming
ROPRO Training Systems is hosted by USHorses.com |
