Author: Lindsay Whelchel

When the lights shine down on the grand entry of the 48th Annual International Finals Rodeo this January in Oklahoma City, two cowgirls will have a stronger connection than most in the arena.

Kim and Taycie Matthews, currently ranked no. 4 and no. 5 in the IPRA world standings, are mother and daughter qualifiers in the barrel racing. They’ve had a strong year in the IPRA, with Kim holding steady and Taycie making a late-season surge as a rookie. Did we mention Taycie was only 14?

The Matthews family, from Wynne, Arkansas, has been involved in barrel racing for many years. Kim’s parents trained barrel horses as she was growing up in Caruthersville, Missouri before she went on to college at the University of Tennessee Martin on a rodeo scholarship. After college Kim kept up barrel racing some, but got married in 2000 and quit for eight or nine years to start a business and a family with her husband Terris.
Together they own Matthews Ridgeview Farms, a large sweet potato operation where they supply to many major retailers across the United States.
But when Kim had two young daughters, Jaylie who is 16 and Taycie, who just turned 15 in December, it was practically written in the stars the girls would have horses. Their grandparents were quick to ensure they had ponies as babies and grew up horseback from there.

“They started riding, and that gave me an opportunity to get back in it,” Kim explains adding, “we were going to barrel futurities and big open shows, not really going to any rodeos, and three years ago we decided we were going to go to some rodeos. We went to about three or four with Kindyl Scruggs [the IPRA’s 2016 world champion barrel racer] and then we went back to the barrel races and barrel futurities,” But 2017 would be special Kim describes, “this year Taycie just begged, she said ‘I want to try to make the IFR, so I said ‘okay, if I’m going to have to haul you, I’m going to run too. So we just decided to go this year, and we went… a whole lot…” Kim laughs.

All three Matthews women joined the IPRA’s 2017 season. And though Jaylie didn’t go as hard as Kim and Taycie, she plans to rodeo with them in 2018. Being involved in horses and on the rodeo road together with her daughters has been important to Kim.

“I think it’s awesome. It’s a lot of bonding time and just keeps us having so many things in common. We got to spend a whole lot of time together this summer.” Taycie echoes that sentiment. “It’s fun. It’s just built our relationship more together,” she says.

Going from the barrel racing and futurity world has been a fun change for the girls in particular.

“You’ve got more driving, but a lot of it’s easier because you get there, and you’ve got all day to just rest until your run, and you don’t have as many horses to take care of because you can only run one horse at the rodeo,” Kim says. “We go to the futurities and the derbies, and we may carry 9-10 horses so that’s a whole bunch to take care of,” she laughs and adds of rodeo, “It’s a whole different life. You’ve got a whole different set of people, and you have no idea what the ground is going to be like when you get there. You have no idea what the weather is going to be. You just have to adapt or don’t run, which I did that a few times this year,” she laughs, but adds seriously, “it’s all about your horse. You can’t do it without your horse so you’ve got to take care of them first.”

Being in the IPRA specifically has afforded the girls the opportunity to travel to rodeos internationally and places different than they were used to.

“Going to Canada was an amazing experience in itself. We went up there three different times and the culture, the scenery, the hospitality, we loved it all, we really enjoyed the trip and not just that, but it changed my whole view of going north,” Kim says. “I could not believe the hospitality that we received from so many different people in so many different states. It changed my whole view about northerners, because you kind of hear they have that stigma just like we do as southerners, but we just had an awesome summer. As far as IPRA it’d been a long time since I’d been back going to IPRA rodeos, and it was really good. There were a lot of places I was amazed at how good the ground was and just how they treated us, and I was very impressed.”

For Kim and Terris, giving their children a life with horses has a much bigger impact than the adventures. It teaches accountability, responsibility and confidence Kim says. “I just think it helps you be a well-rounded individual. It keeps you out of trouble, because it keeps you busy, and it teaches you. You’re responsible for a life. It’s not a human life, but it’s a horse that’s as important as a human, because you can’t go down the road without it,” Kim assures.

And it’s clear the year has had an impact on Taycie.

“I’ve learned how to ride different horses. It taught me how to be more responsible and to be more grateful for what I can do,” she says.
The year for Taycie did not start off strong, and the Matthews’ stud horse she was riding got hurt, but Taycie rebounded when Kim let Taycie share her horse Feelin’ the Firewater, the newly crowned 2017 IPRA Barrel Racing Horse of the Year. The move to share the horse paid off big time. Taycie broke the arena record at the IPRA’s largest regular-season rodeo, the Festival Western de St. Tite in Quebec.

“The beginning of the year was rough. I was getting ready to quit and just go back to barrel races, and it got better in about June, and it’s been getting better from then on,” Taycie describes, saying of her incredible accomplishment at St. Tite, “I was excited I couldn’t really believe it.”

That win secured Taycie’s qualification to the IFR, and so now mother and daughter will get to share the experience together.

“It means a whole lot to have qualified with my daughter, because she had a slow start to the year. It was just a struggle, because I’ve never seen as many tough barrel horses and as many people going and continuing up until the end as this year,” Kim says adding, “there were a couple of times where she got discouraged, and I almost was discouraged but tried not to let her know it, because things may not have been going her way, and we’re thinking ‘is she going to make it, is she not going to make it,’ and I made the comment, ‘if she doesn’t make it, I don’t want to go. It was just going to be special for both of us to do it.”

Now that they both have done it, it will be exciting to watch them compete together in Oklahoma City Jan. 19-21 at the IFR. Then it’s full steam ahead for 2018.

The Matthews have been expanding their farm business, and Kim is excited for her studs and breeding operation and to bring along some babies. By the end of the year she’ll have some 3-year-old horses ready to start their careers. “That’ll be a huge milestone, and I’m very excited about that,” Kim says.

And as for her girls, Taycie wants to take up breakaway roping in addition to running barrels, and Jaylie plans to hit the trail hard too, so no telling what will happen for IFR49.

The Matthews want to thank husband/ father Terris for his support of their endeavors, as well as hauling partners in the IPRA; Kindyl Scruggs, Cayla Fielder, Travis Gardner, Kylie Brueggeman and Sherry Rhea for helping with the driving. They also give credit to their sponsors; B Equine Essentials a therapeutic mud and poultice, Oxy-Gen Products and JHA Saddle and Tack.

Brenten Hall and Jake Clay may as well be brothers. They both come from rodeo families and they’ve grown up together as best friends. Both handy with a rope, it only made sense that the two 17-year-old cowboys should team up together in their professional rodeo careers. And if this year in the International Professional Rodeo Association is any indication, it was a smart move.
Both Brenten and Jake will be heading to the International Finals Rodeo this January in Oklahoma City to compete as two of the youngest in the field of competitors from the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Growing up in Oklahoma, Brenten and Jake met around the age of 7 and were quickly rodeoing together.  “I don’t ever remember not roping or being around it. When I was little I went to rodeos with my mom and dad. It is just something that I do, I don’t see myself doing something different,” Jake describes of rodeo. His entrance into the IPRA was natural too. Both his father Dwayne and mother Julana are multi-time IFR qualifiers, his dad as a header in the team roping and his mom as a barrel racer. She won Rookie of the Year back in 1986 and continued on from there. Brenten’s mom LeAnna ran barrels and team roped, like Jake’s parents, his father Bob was also a multi-time IFR qualifier and team roping director for IPRA. Bob passed his love of roping on and coached Brenten to where he is today. Sadly, Bob passed away in 2015 from pancreatic cancer. Now they rope in his honor.

Brenten and Jake grew up doing junior rodeos locally and have both gone into high school rodeo, but have quickly made a name for themselves as professional competitors too. This is Jake’s second year in the IPRA and Brenten’s rookie year. They have focused on preparation and practicing while they have done home school through high school.

“We’re both homeschooled so it made it a lot easier. We couldn’t have done this if we couldn’t home school. We’d have had too many absent days, but you can kind of get ahead and prepare for what’s happening and take off for the weekend and not have to worry about it,” Brenten describes. He adds that his season had a slow start. “It’s been real fun. There were some very hard times. I went through some stuff I couldn’t figure anything out, I was having a hard time, I was missing, but the worst part about it is I felt like was letting my partners down, because I don’t do very good with that stuff,” he admits.

Then things turned around for the team. “I wasn’t doing very good then come about Pawnee rodeo it just kind of worked. I won 1st and third there and that shot me in 17th or 18th in the world, and then I got to where I thought, ‘you know, I’ve got to go, I’ve got to try to make it [to IFR] since I went this far, closer than I was, not there, but closer than I was,” Brenten says.
He and Jake make a good team for organizing a pro-rodeo career. “Pro-rodeoing has been fun, a lot of ups and downs. Entering, I still have zero clues whatsoever, I think I entered one rodeo,” Brenten says and adds of Jake, “he’s done every entering job, I just kind of tell him where I think we should go and then he does it whichever way it’s supposed to be done,” he laughs.

Jake chimes in humorously that he also does all of the driving, to which Brenten replies, he looks after the animals. In reality, they get along well. “Neither one of us demands anything very often. Neither one of us are really that organized whatsoever. It takes us a good two hours to figure out how we want to go [to rodeos] just two a weekend but [our] moms take care of us,” Brenten laughs. Jokes aside, both acknowledge the great support they get from their families and sponsors. Brenten would like to thank his sponsors, Classic Ropes and Horselic, and Jake would like to thank Mid-States Industrial Sales and Tulsa Stockyards.

The fact that Brenten and Jake are both laidback, works great for their team dynamic. They can hardly recall ever fighting, maybe twice, they agree. And the sport of team roping is unique they realize, because, as Jake explains, “It makes you want to try harder because you know your partner is trying just as hard, and if you mess up you let not only yourself, but him down too.”

The boys split their days between school work and practicing. Jake also trains horses with his dad, and Brenten’s family has cattle and owns the local feed store in their town of Jay, in northeastern Oklahoma. Jake lives closer to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma in the town of Sapulpa. It’s about an hour and 45 minutes-drive between their towns, but they practice together when they can, when they’re not on the road competing, which isn’t a lot now days. They’re usually gone every weekend to a rodeo.

Both Jake and Brenten credit their horses for helping them get where they are. Jake mostly rides a 10-year-old sorrel gelding he’s competed on for the past four years, and is special because his dad trained the horse. And Brenten’s main horse is a paint he actually bought off of Jake a couple of years ago.

Another component to success for the boys is a positive mindset. “[You’ve] just got to be humble in everything, because you could win one day and then not win for three weeks or however long,” Jake says and cites his favorite quote, ‘if you want to be the best, you’ve got to do things other people aren’t willing to do.”  As for Brenten, he thinks of the saying, ‘if you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you’ll be successful.’ “I think that’s something you should live by if you try to win,” he says and adds another motto, “for a successful Plan A is not have a Plan B’ so keep after that plan A, practicing a lot, keep your head down, keep going for it.”

Those mottos are clearly working for both Brenten and Jake. Beyond qualifying for the IFR, Brenten split the $100,000 win at the USTRC in October in Oklahoma City, “it was exciting, I wouldn’t know any other way to put it. I’m still kind of bumfuzzled over it,” Brenten says of that win. “I needed something, some kind of money so I could keep going and maybe get another horse, and it ended up coming through, and it helped,” he says but adds, “That money sure is good, but winning, the success, is what makes you happy.”
And in December, the team saw even more success. Together, Jake and Brenten roped to a first place finish and a $150,000 paycheck at the World Series of Team Roping #15 Finale.

Impressive accomplishments for two teenage high school kids.
Both boys will be soon looking to colleges and college rodeo, as well as continued success, but for January, all the focus is on the International Finals Rodeo, Jan. 13-15, 2017 in Oklahoma City.

For Timber Allenbrand, the sport of rodeo has been ideal preparation for a successful future.

She has been competing in the sport, and leading with several association service positions, in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association in her young, yet accomplished life so far.

Timber’s mother Trisha barrel raced some in her thirties, but Timber quickly picked up the sport of rodeo as the first person in her family to pursue it as a career.

Trisha had bought a barrel horse when she wanted to try her hand at the sport and still had the horse by the time Timber could climb into the saddle.

“She just took to it. Since she was little tiny I had her on the back of a horse, and by the time she was 3 she was doing the lead class out there she and I, and that’s really how we got started,” Trisha describes of her daughter’s beginnings into rodeo.

“I was fortunate enough to get involved with close friends who were involved in rodeo, so I was exposed more to what rodeo was really about, and those people have been very influential in our lives and have been so gracious to include Timber and teach her things,” Trisha says. From the lead line class, Timber took the reins herself with help from her mother and her rodeo family.

The KHSRA cowgirl went through the ranks of the Kansas Junior High School Association, all the way to nationals in Gallup, N.M. every year, was a Reserve World Champion her 7th grade year and won a National Championship in 8th grade.

Through the years she’s also served as an event director, held offices like that of Secretary in the KHSRA last year. Now Timber is the student president of KHSRA.

“It’s really built my network for my future, and you don’t find the people that you do in rodeo anywhere else. The family circle is amazing,” Timber says and adds of the responsibilities of her role as president. “I love setting up community service activities for the contestants of Kansas High School Rodeo. It’s been a lot of fun to do that.”

One of Timber’s fondest memories was seeing the kids from a nonprofit initiative called Real Men, Real Leaders benefit. The kids were given contestant jackets and cowboy hats and were able to come watch one of the KHSRA rodeos.

“It just makes my heart happy to see everybody that doesn’t get the opportunity to do what we do be able to watch and have the joy through another perspective,” Timber explains.

In the arena, Timber’s competitive focus is on the All-Around. She competes in five events, barrels, goat tying, breakaway roping, pole bending and cutting.

“I just have learned from many people along the way, and [I’m] very blessed to have everybody that’s came along to help me get where I am,” Timber says.

She especially credits her mother for her endless support.

“My mom is a big impact in my life. She travels with me and works long hours. We have a team. She is the one out there working chutes late at night and holding the goat and being my coach, best friend and everything you do to be a single mom, but we have many people that help us out, so that’s awesome,” Timber says, adding that her Aunt Vicki is a big help as well, by caring for their home and animals when she’s out chasing her rodeo dreams.

Trisha too has benefitted from sharing this rodeo experience with her daughter on the road.

“I don’t know of many other things that let you go down the road with your kids and spend that much time together most weekends of the year, and live life and overcome obstacles, work through things and have the typical mother-daughter ups and downs as well, but at the same time not trade it for the world,” Trisha credits.

Trisha has two businesses, and she and Timber have developed a system to work together to accomplish the tasks that need done as the mother and daughter travel for Timber to pursue her goals.
“We just work together, a team, whether it’s feeding the horses or exercising [horses], cleaning the barn, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, or taking care of school work, it is just, from the minute we get up to the minute we go to bed, a team effort, because we knew that, and we knew what she wanted to be,” Trisha describes.
Trisha’s career allows her flexibility when it comes to helping Timber with horses or practice. Timber may be roping and tying goats at 7 a.m., or doing school obligations after hours in the evenings, but the aspiring cowgirl makes it work.
Outside of the arena, Trisha’s career in business has inspired Timber too. Timber plans to go on to college rodeo and major in marketing and business.
“Business, I’m very interested in, and marketing as technology grows is very important,” she says.

Beyond rodeo, Timber likes to work with young horses and develop their athleticism. “I love to train on young horses and work with them and grow them, their mind and try to find their best abilities,” she says.

Trisha agrees this work suits her daughter. “We tease her about being a horse whisperer, because she truly has a relationship with [the horses]. She loves working with them and finding out what makes them work and bringing out the best in them, and that’s her sincere passion. She’s fundamentally learned so many things that I believe that’s part of why she’s successful in the competitive [arena].”

Trisha goes on to credit rodeo with helping allow Timber to grow into the young woman she has become. “Rodeo has given her the ability to see the world from many different lifestyles, perspectives, attitudes, beliefs, and it’s let her realize it takes a lot of hard work, but it takes a lot of people relationships to make your world complete,” Trisha explains and adds that Timber has become able to see people for who they are, and that she tries to pay it forward with all of the help she’s been given from the rodeo community. “I think [rodeo] has just given her this whole way to see life and appreciate it and be part of something bigger, and it’s taken lots of miles and lots of wonderful people that have allowed her, and us, to have this kind of life together.”

Timber likes to have a plan when it comes to big steps in life, but overall, prefers to go with the flow day to day, and these days, she’s soaking up all that her last year in the KHSRA has to offer. “Senior year has been great to me. I’ve had a blast, and I’m excited for the future.”

Trisha is confident in her daughter’s ability to succeed.

“She’s a very insightful person, and I have full faith that she has great things ahead of her, a lot to experience and a lot to give back for what she has been able to experience so far in her life as well. She will continue living God’s plan for her purpose.”

Timber has signed on with the rodeo team Tarleton State University in Texas. She has been accepted into the Tarleton Honors College program as well.

And it’s clear no matter where that road takes her, Timber will go prepared because of her involvement in rodeo and the Kansas High School Rodeo Association.

This season’s All-Around title race in the International Professional Rodeo Association is just about as close as it can get. It’s as international as it can get too, with the top-three contenders hailing from Canada, America and Australia respectively.

But if you look closer than the standings, you’ll find three friends who aren’t just trying to reach their own goals, they’re helping each other as well.

“These guys have helped me a lot since I’ve been here this year,” explains Ty Parkinson of fellow All-Around contestants, Justin Thigpen and Cody Mousseau.

Ty is from New South Wales, Australia and competes in just about every event he can, from bull riding to tie-down roping.
Ty joined the IPRA for his rookie year this summer after he met Canadian Cody Mousseau, the 2014 World Champion Team Roping Header and Steer Wrestler. Cody had come to Australia to rope at the beginning of 2015. “I met him over there. He came in about June,” Cody says of convincing Ty to come rodeo in North America. “It’s all on me. You can blame me or congratulate me,” he jokes.

By “blame” he probably means that Ty quickly shot to the top of the standings in several events, putting pressure on cowboys across the board.

Beyond Cody, soon Ty could also call veteran IPRA competitor and 2014 World Champion Tie-Down Roper, Justin Thigpen from Georgia, a good friend as well.  “They’ve both helped me out in roping and tying. They both pull my bull rope every weekend. Good buddies [who are] no. 1 and no. 2 in the world, it’s a great feeling,” Ty says of his two allies.

Rodeo is common in Ty’s part of Australia. He grew up with the aim of becoming a jack-of-all-trades in rodeo events like his father, a multiple event champion. Now Ty is seeing that dream to fruition across oceans.

Like Ty, for Cody and Justin, rodeo was just something they were born into. And they’ve done it well. Each has multiple titles and IFR qualifications to his name.

“My mom ran barrels, and my dad rode bulls, so I was running around in diapers, boots and cowboy hat. I’ve been at it my whole life. It’s about the only way of life I do now,” Justin explains of growing up in Waycross, Ga., with a rodeo family.
At first Justin thought he was going to be a bull rider like his dad. “When I got on them I wasn’t good enough so I had to find another occupation,” he laughs. “I started roping and never looked back. I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been blessed with a rope.”

In addition to his successful rodeo career, Justin has also begun his own business as a stock contractor with T-T Rodeo Company. “I enjoy rodeo. It’s been great to me. It’s blessed me with a good life, and I want to give back to it. I hope to put on rodeos for many years to come,” he says and adds that there’s also a deeper meaning to what he does now that he’s a father.
Justin and wife Laura have a 2-year-old son named Slade and a newborn, Trent. “It’s more about enjoying it with them now. Things that used to worry me, I used to think about, I don’t now,” Justin explains.

Slade is always with him, behind the roping box cheering his dad on.

“He’s pretty into the rodeo. He hollers throughout the week, ‘daddy, are we going to the rodeo?’ I’m like, ‘it’s not the weekend yet son,’ but he’s all about it,” Justin smiles.

“It means more to me, because he comes out. Win, lose or draw, you’re still his hero, so that makes it a lot better. It makes you put life into perspective.”

Justin has also enjoyed being able to travel with Cody and Ty a lot this year.

“We support each other. We rope with each other, help Ty with the bull riding. We have a lot of fun, and that’s what it’s about. It used to be ‘have to win, have to win,’ now it’s ‘have fun, enjoy what you’re doing, enjoy your life,” he says.
Despite this, or because of it, the wins have come just the same.

Justin is leading the season standings in the All-Around race going into the International Finals Rodeo, held in Oklahoma City.
Cody is not far behind him. “I like it more. I’ve been to a couple finals where I only did one event. I don’t like it as much. I like doing everything at one time,” Cody says of competing in tie-down roping, steer wrestling and team roping.

Cody’s parents rodeoed, and he followed suit around the age of 10 or 11.

Being from Canada, Cody explains that rodeos in the summer go on full-steam ahead and then slow down, or end altogether in the winter. That’s why going south to rodeo in the states, and even going to Australia like Cody did, is more common for Canadians.

This summer Cody, Justin and Ty saw a lot of each other in Canada and the United States.  “We all traveled together a bunch this summer. We went for a couple of weeks, and two other Australians went with us, and Riley Williams went with us. One rodeo I do remember we went to in Pennsylvania, and every single one of us placed that day in every event, so it was good,” Cody recalls.

There are not rivalries when it comes to rodeo competitors who happen to be traveling partners like this trio, Cody assures. “It’s a lot easier. Everybody helps each other out.”

For Ty being so far away from home, the group has become a second family.

He stays with Cody’s parents a lot while in Canada. They have a traveling support system. Ty has been able to borrow good horses. They push each other’s calves and rope together too, he says.

The bond between the three guys no doubt contributes to their success.

“It’s pretty awesome how three different countries can come together and work as a team,” Ty says. And that is no doubt one of the best parts about the International Professional Rodeo Association and rodeo as a whole.