Author: Larsen

Intro by Chaney Larson

Story by Amy Outhier Maynard

If you follow rodeo, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard the last name, Outhier. Madison Outhier has been one of the biggest names in the sport over the past few years with her dominance in the breakaway competition. She continues to be a leader in and out of the arena, and is an amazing example for young girls as the event continues to gain wide acceptance and exposure like never before.
Madison’s winning spirit and leadership abilities comes from her upbringing and runs deep in her family. Her proud Aunt, Amy Outhier Maynard, is no stranger to the rodeo world as well. Amy has always been an incredible rodeo athlete. Her rodeo accolades include 2x Central Plains Region Goat Tying Champion, 3x Qualifier to the CNFR, and 2x IFYR Goat Tying Champion.
These days, Amy continues to hustle and grind daily as a momma to two adorable boys, Max and Major. Her husband, Zac, is the head football coach in Elk City, OK, and as for her professional career, Amy is the Program Coordinator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University for the Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program.
Through her knowledge, positive attitude, work ethic, and genuine kindness, Amy Outhier Maynard is a special soul.
Here is a message from my friend, Amy!
– Chaney Larsen

Growing up, my family had unspoken core values. We were raised to prioritize what matters most, treat others with respect, do things to our best ability, and so on. Over the years, I appreciate those values more and more as I am raising a family of my own.
Now more than ever, I believe it is important to clearly define your family’s core values. To clearly understand them, it is important to write them down and discuss them as a family. As parents and guardians of our children, it is our responsibility to begin that discussion with our kids that will create a foundation that will set the course of their life. It is nothing new, but our world is volatile and ever changing. If we do not set the narrative for our children, the world will do it for us.
Put simply, core values are what matter most to you. They are the navigational compass that you live your life by. They influence the decisions you make, your response to other people, as well as your goals. They provide direction for your daily behavior and are the foundation that will ultimately determine your success.
Your core values influence every aspect of your life. They affect your circle of influence and determine how you handle life’s challenges. By creating a foundation to live your life by, you set your children up to be secure in themselves, in you, and the purpose laid on their heart.
After you establish your family’s core values, you can begin to align everything with those values. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where learning is caught and not taught. As moms and parents, the work begins with us first.
A practical way we use our family core values is to use them to discipline our children. For example, one of our core values is having a positive attitude. If one of my children is moping around or complaining, I simply say, “The Maynard family has a positive attitude regardless of our situation. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react.” Another one of our core values is respecting others. If one of my boys disrespects his brother, he is not allowed to play with his friends until he can learn to respect his brother first.
Our rodeo family is a rare group of individuals that already operate out of solid core values. I just want to encourage you to discuss them with your family and physically write them down. It is like setting the GPS on your phone. Once you write them down, the navigation becomes clear. It helps to create clarity and focus, communicate what is most important, influence behavior, and elevate effective leadership. Like never before, our children need us to step up our leadership and show them how to build a house on the ROCK.
Do you know your core values?
Can you list them in order of priority?
Does your life reflect the values you have listed, in the order listed?
If you would like to dive deeper into this subject, I highly suggest reading Your Divine Fingerprint by Keith Craft.
God Bless and Journey On

There is so much negativity in this world these days that many people struggle with finding their joy. The news spends countless hours reporting the negative and a few minutes each day on the positive. In the state the world is in right now, with coming back from a very hard, trying few years after so much turmoil, financial strain, and loss, it’s no wonder people are depressed and on edge.
I recently saw a quote that said, “You promote your children’s well-being when you demonstrate joy that springs from your own being. When they observe you living from pure being, content to exist as you are, they locate the capacity within themselves, and they learn to access their own joy.”
Joy has to be found internally, because if you try to find it externally through a career, a gold buckle, or a championship saddle, those things will only last so long. Find joy in the here and the now, the moments with your children, the small things that you’ll look back on and you’ll realize they were the most important parts of your life.
Be grateful for the people you meet along the journey, spending time with your travel partners, and just being fortunate enough to do what you love to do. Whether that’s being a professional rodeo cowboy or cowgirl, running a ranch, or you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do, just find something positive about each day, and your purpose will be revealed when you have the right attitude, mentality, and work ethic.
Our youngest son, Waylon, may not be able to walk, but he has the best little attitude and is determined to do whatever his older brother, Charlie, does. It fills my heart with joy to see his face light up every day for just the simplest of things. He doesn’t care that he can’t walk. He has wheels so he can go faster. Always try to look at the positive. He’s getting so fast and fearless, I am going to need to get him a helmet soon. I call him our fragile daredevil!
Another good quote says, “ Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.”
With my father’s passing last year, it’s hard to see any positive through the loss of a loved one, but you have to in order to keep moving forward. You have to live for them, and live in a way that would make them proud. A positive of him crossing over is that he no longer has to fight the terrible disease. He is free, and there is some peace with that. I wish he was here so badly, but all of us will have our time sooner or later. That’s why it is so important to not waste one second to try and find your joy, and really work hard to find it. Don’t sit and wait for it to come to you.
As Waylon gets older, and especially through his school years I know there will be some challenges, but as long as I can teach him to be fundamentally strong; to have a strong mind. I know he’ll be able to conquer anything.
I’ve started to take Charlie out before bed to lie on the trampoline and just be still. This was our conversation the other night. I said, “Charlie, just be still. Listen to the trees, listen to the birds, listen to the planes.” And he replied, “And listen to God, and be kind, and be brave.” I smiled with joy as he said those words, and said. “Yes, that’s right.” It made me so proud to hear him say that.
If you have children, they really don’t care what your profession is. What they do care about is the type of parents you are, the example you set, and the joy you bring them by showing them you truly care.
As you go down the rodeo trail this summer, think about when the dust settles and you’re no longer able to be in the arena. When your career has ended how many people will you have impacted positively and helped out along the way? Find your joy and help others find theirs too!