Born to Rope

Brand them a rodeo family.

Kathy Salisbury, 33, and her father, Emery Kauzlarich, 58, have long been one of the most successful team roping partnerships in professional rodeo.

Her two sisters, Tammy Tuesburg, 32, and Erika Kauzlarich, 21, have also made their marks on the pro circuit in team roping and barrel racing.

And now two toddlers of the family’s third generation are starting to twirl the rope.

When not on the road, the family practices at Salisbury’s sprawling Placerita Canyon ranch, complete with 20 head of steer and a bucking machine that simulates a bovine’s kick.

“It’s definitely a team effort,” Salisbury said. “You really have to understand each other and get the timing down. Of course, when things aren’t going so well, you really feel that you’re a family. If you travel a long way and something goes wrong, it can be a long ride home.”

Salisbury is one of only two women who has qualified for membership in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn., one of the sport’s dominant organizations. She also competes in events staged by the Women’s Pro Rodeo Assn.

She recalled getting hooked into lassoing at age 4.

“I started roping anything on the ground,” she said. “Gophers, other kids. Anything that moved.”

At times during the past three decades, Salisbury’s passion has sparked interest.

While working as a free-lance court reporter based in Sherman Oaks, she said, “It didn’t take long for word to get around that I roped. People said, ‘Man, she’s taking down Brahma bulls; we’d better not mess with her.”

Her son, Trevor, 5, has begun playing with ropes and enjoys seeing the horses, his mother proudly reports.

Garrett, her 2-year-old-nephew, is also “going to be a real cowboy,” said Salisbury.

“He just loves it. He cries when we have to take him inside, even if it’s pitch dark.”