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ROTTERDAM
Local rodeo roper turning heads
16-year-old looking ahead to national competition in Florida
BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter

   The black steer got a precious few seconds’ head start and then 16-year-old Eric Fabian, riding in fast pursuit, threw his lasso to jerk the animal to a halt.
   “It’s awesome,” he said following a practice Tuesday. “It’s just a ton of fun.”
   The lanky 16-year-old, a junior at Schalmont High School, roped himself a 10th-place finish in his class in the United States Team Roping Championships held in October in Oklahoma City. He and his roping partner, Cody Christensen of Connecticut, competed against about 600 teams.
   Fabian, who lives with his family on Mariaville Road, has been roping for roughly the last four years but has been riding horses almost his entire life. His mother had horses when she was 8 or 9 years old and she taught him how to ride.
   “I used to show horses when I was younger and I competed in the quarter-horse circuit. I got bored with that. I said, ‘Mom, I want to rope’ and it’s been going on and on,” he said.
   Roping is a competitive endeavor with a variety of classes. Winning events called “preliminary” roping qualify participants to do “shootout” ropings. Fabian explained that ropers work in two-member teams in a timed event.
   First, the steer is released from the chute and gets a head start. Then, one team member called the “header” rides up to the left side and tries to land his rope around the horns or neck. He secures the steer by wrapping his remaining rope around the saddle-horn and pulls the steer to the left side of the arena. Then, the other team member — called the “heeler” — attempts to use his loop to wrap the steer’s two rear feet. This action could all take less than 15 seconds, according to the United States Team Roping Championships Web site.
   There is a five-second penalty if the rope only catches one hind leg, Fabian said. He has “headed” and “heeled” in his events.
   “There’s just something about it that I just love. There’s a lot of speed involved … there’s so much excitement and stuff going on — the atmosphere, the rodeo, I really enjoy it.”
   Fabian has won some professional rodeo events on the world circuit. He said he was not really nervous when he entered the Oklahoma event, despite the music blaring and all the excitement.
PRESSURE AND CASH
   “You look around, There’s maybe a handful of kids there. The rest of the people are older people that have been doing it forever,” he said. “I feed off the pressure.”
   For his success at the national event, he got a trophy buckle and $9,500 in prize money, $1,000 for the fastest time and $1,500 for a short time bonus.
   Even when he is not on a horse, Fabian is practicing his roping. “Anything that’s moving, I’ll rope it,” he said. “I’ll just rope for entire days on end, just keep on going.”
   He is grateful to his trainer and partner Bob Hoyt and for the friendships he has made in the last few years. He practices once or twice a week at places like the William J. Dyer General Contractors barn in Mechanicville and also competes in some rodeos on the weekends.
   He is looking forward to the national competition in Jacksonville, Fla., at the end of January. He also competes on the high school rodeo circuit and is president of the New York High School Rodeo Association.
   His proud parents looked on during Fabian’s Tuesday practice session. John Fabian said when Hoyt first started training his son, he said that he would not be roping steers for at least a year. “In two months, he was roping steers because he was roping so well,” he said.
   The family has supported him in these events and the family loaded up Eric Fabian’s Palomino horse “Buddy” and made the 27-hour trip to Oklahoma City.
   His mother, Maryl Fabian, said she is proud of her son’s success. “The 10th-place finish in the No. 8 shootout was just more than you can ever imagine that he would have done,” she said.
   Then, he and Hoyt competed in the No. 9 shootout and had the 9th fastest time out of 888.
   “I think that [what] really strikes me is that he is a 16-year-old kid. Other than the national high school association, all of the events he goes to are open to anybody. He’s out roping against these guys that have been roping for years. He’s having this type of success early,” she added.
   Hoyt said most people usually do not pick it up as fast but Fabian is athletic.
   “He’s put an awful lot of time and effort into it,” Hoyt said. “He’ll be out at 10 o’clock at night, roping that thing and still keeping up with his school work.”
   “He’s got a big future ahead of him,” he said.
   Fabian said he never dreamed of having this kind of success. He is not sure what lies in the future. Some people rope professionally and others just do it as a hobby. He would like to either be a teacher or own a business and perhaps rope on the side.
   “It’s just exciting. It never gets boring because you can always be working on something that you can do better. I like the challenge,” he said.

MEREDITH L. KAISER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Eric Fabian, 16, of Rotterdam, unwraps his horse Buddy’s legs during team roping practice Tuesday in Mechanicville. Practicing with Fabian is his trainer and partner, Bob Hoyt.

MEREDITH L. KAISER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Eric Fabian, 16, of Rotterdam, ropes a calf while practicing Tuesday.