into the corner of the roping box. The buzz of arena lights hum overhead while cowgirls with long braids and quiet horses crowd her peripheral. She feels her rope coils in her left hand and the weight of the loop in her right. She takes a deep breath and nods. A cream-colored calf emerges from a chute directly in front of her. She hangs in the balance for a brief moment — to ensure she doesn’t break the barrier — and then, with the slightest shift, asks her horse to move. He rocks back on his massive hindquarters and propels himself forward from a standstill to a gallop instantaneously. She swings her rope, releases it, and it lands
