Rodeo Life

Category: Roper Review

  • Coleman Proctor

    Coleman Proctor

    Coleman Proctor can’t remember not roping. Growing up in Oklahoma, his mom, dad and both sisters roped. He entered his first roping at the age of nine and hasn’t slowed down since. Also during his childhood, the family raised and showed sheep, which kept Coleman involved in 4H.
    “I enjoyed that part of my life. It taught me a lot about responsibility. I remember raising a bottle goat in the kitchen. I would have to get up early and give her a bottle like a baby. We named her Clementine and I used to haul her to high school rodeos and practice on her. She thought she was a dog.”
    Coleman enjoyed sports in high school and attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Northwestern Oklahoma State University. He has considered attending law school.
    It’s impossible to reach the professional level without some coaching and Coleman is thankful for the help he received as a young roper from more experienced ropers like Manny Egusquiza, Jeff Brown and Gaylen Fix.
    It’s just a matter of time before we see Coleman Proctor competing at the Wrangler National Finals. Winning rodeos like Oakdale, California and Caldwell, Idaho in 2013 helped Coleman to finish 19th in the heading world standings, roping with a variety of partners.
    This year, Coleman is heading for long-time friend, Jake Long. In 2010, the pair bested 468 teams to win the prestigious George Strait Team Roping Classic with a time of 14.93-seconds on three head.
    “In the 8th grade, Jake and I started hanging out and roping together. We roped all the time, whether it was steers, goats or dummies. We were both heeling at the time and only had one head rope. We would take turns heading for each other.”
    “Getting up and down the road is very expensive. You have to win, there’s no other answer. I enjoy helping people with their roping and teaching schools and that income is helpful. When I roped with Speed he taught me a lot about teaching and treating your roping as a business.”
    As for kids that want to rodeo and go pro, Coleman has this advice:
    “Set goals. Goals are nothing more than dreams with a timeline. Don’t ever give up or let up. In the end, you are the only person that stands in your way of doing anything. Leave alone the temptations on the road that will hinder your progress. Get your head down and make a plan.”
    Coleman is currently sponsored by: Fast Back Ropes, CSI Saddle Pads, Coats Saddles, Dixon-Flowers Quarter Horses, Wrangler, Justin, Pro Care Plus and speedroping.com.

    COWBOY Q&A:

    How much do you practice?
    Every day. Even if it’s just roping the dummy. If I’m not practicing, somebody else is. I learned from Speed, you have to have a great work ethic and be disciplined.

    Do you make your own horses?
    I made Booger, the horse I won the Strait on. But I do have some help from time to time. The horse I’m riding now, Switchblade, I got from Jimmy Lawrence, Lawrence Quarter Horses in Dewey, OK.

    Who were your roping heroes?
    My dad, Jeff Brown, Clay O’Brien Cooper, Speed Williams, Tom Ferguson

    Who do you respect most in the world?
    My mother

    Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
    My mother

    If you had a day off what would you like to do?
    I would play golf all day long.

    Favorite movie?
    Tin Cup

    What’s the last thing you read?
    Mind Gym – it’s about the mental aspect of anything related to sports.

    How would you describe yourself in three words?
    Funny, driven, motivated

    What makes you happy?
    Stephanie Arnold

    What makes you angry?
    People not taking their hats off during prayers or the National Anthem.

    If you were given 1 million dollars, how would you spend it?
    Wisely.

    What is your worst quality – your best?
    Worst quality, I tend to run late. Best quality, is being outgoing.

    Where do you see yourself in ten years?
    Living and ranching in Oklahoma. Still going to some rodeos.

  • Jessica Holmes

    Jessica Holmes

    Jessica Holmes always looks on the bright side of life. The Northwest Ranch Cowboys Association member goes through life, thinking every phase “is the best years of my life,” she says, “but I keep saying it.” And now that she has a daughter, life “is better. She’s my life now.”

    Jessica grew up northwest of Buffalo, S.D., the daughter of Joe and Cindy Painter. She participated in youth rodeo and South Dakota High School Rodeo in every girls event, qualifying in all six events for the state high school finals all four years of high school, and winning the pole bending at the National High School Finals in 2002 and 2003. She was reserve all-around champion at Nationals those same years.

    After graduating from Harding Co. High School in 2003, she attended National American University in Rapid City, competing in goat tying, breakaway, barrel racing and team roping. She made the College National Finals Rodeo all four years in the goat tying and breakaway roping, and won the CNFR’s breakaway title in 2006.

    Jessica earned a degree in business and marketing, and then attended Black Hills State University in Spearfish. She earned her MBA and was assistant women’s rodeo coach while at Black Hills State.

    She worked in marketing for an aerial mapping company in Rapid City, and married Casey Holmes in 2009. Casey, who is from Madison, Wisc., came to South Dakota for college, and stayed, but Jessica jokingly wonders why. “I’m not sure if it was for me or if he liked it.” Casey’s parents get to see their granddaughter frequently, and they also Skype.

    Two years ago, Jessica and Casey decided to move back to her family’s ranch. The timing was perfect, she says. “I loved ranching and the lifestyle, and so did my husband. We were expecting the baby, and there is no better place than Harding County to raise her. We didn’t have to do day care, and she could grow up riding and ranching.”

    Tommi Jo, who was named after her grandparents, has a unique birth story. She was born in June of 2012 “accidentally,” Jessica laughs, at the College Finals. “My sister, who is six years younger than I am, was at the CNFR, and I had a really good feeling about her in the breakaway. So I just had to go watch her. I couldn’t stay home.” Jessica was only a week away from her due date, and Casper is a five hour drive from the ranch. “Tommi Jo decided to come, so she was delivered at the Casper hospital. My husband was coming to pick me up, because I only went for slack.” It was a memorable week, not just because of Tommi Jo’s birth, but also because Jessica’s sister Joey won the breakaway roping on the same horse that Jessica rode for her CNFR title six years before. And everyone from slack came to the hospital to visit the new arrival.

    Jessica joined the NRCA while she was in high school, and has competed at every NRCA Finals except for 2012, when her daughter was born. This year, she won the breakaway, and in the past, she’s won the barrel racing twice and the all-around once. This year, she has fully retired from goat tying. “I’m 28, so I should start considering my knees and ankles,” she says.

    Jessica is also a member of the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association, the Slope Circuit Association, and a former member of the South Dakota Rodeo Association. She has qualified for three Badlands Circuit Finals, and won the all-around at this year’s Slope Circuit Finals. Casey is also an NRCA and Slope Circuit member, and won the heading in the Slope Circuit this year.

    The National Pole Bending Association honored her this year with an induction into their Hall of Fame in Liberty, Kentucky, and she was also honored as one of the Rodeo Cowgirl Greats in the Casey Tibbs Foundation.

  • Heidi, Jake, Cara and Cade Snell

    Heidi, Jake, Cara and Cade Snell

    When the Snells pack the rodeo trailer, the whole family goes along. The four Snell kids: Heidi, Jake, Cara, and Cade, are all members of the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association. They began their NJRA rodeo competition two years ago.

    Heidi, the oldest, is eleven and competes in the barrels, poles, goats and breakaway. Barrel racing is her favorite event, and her barrel horse is a nineteen year old black mare named Hot Toddy. She also rides Hot Toddy for the pole bending. She is a sixth grade student at Cushing Middle School, where math and basketball are her favorite things. She is on the honor roll, and when she grows up, she’d like to be a professional barrel racer, like Sherry Cervi.

    Jake, age ten, is a calf rider who occasionally breakaway ropes. One of his favorite moments was last year, when he got to ride calves at the same event where L.J. Jenkins and Ryan McConnel were riding bulls. Both bull riders autographed his chaps, and he had his picture taken with them. Jake broke his right femur last year tying goats at a rodeo. The rod was taken out in December, and he’s back to competition. He is a fourth grade student, and Fridays are a favorite day at school because the class plays dodge ball every Friday in P.E. When he grows up, he’d like to be a professional bull rider.

    The next Snell child is Cara, age eight. She is a barrel racer who rides Bulldog, a nineteen year old chestnut who is also ridden by Heidi for the goat tying. Cara is the 2013 NJRA Barrel Racing champion and won a saddle for her efforts last year. She is in second grade, and enjoys math and dodge ball. When she grows up, she would like to be a large animal veterinarian. She enjoys the family’s pets: Sophie, Petey, Booger, Macy and Lucy (dogs), Sock and Sam (cats), and their donkeys, goats, miniature horse, and cows.

    The youngest Snell child will begin his NJRA career this year. Cade is two and Heidi will lead line him through the flags. Cade loves to ride and likes to do whatever his older siblings are doing. He’ll get plenty of coaching from them.

    Spud and Erin enjoy the NJRA and what rodeo does for their kids. “It’s something they really like,” Erin says. “They’re into it, and we know where they’re at, and what they’re doing. It’s better than them playing video games and running up and down the street.” The family lives in Cushing, Okla.

  • Clay Real

    Clay Real

    Clay Real is a tie-down roper and team roper in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association. The 17 year old cowboy lives near Grafton, Neb., in the eastern part of the state, and inherited his love of rodeo from his grandpa, Dean Blum, who has team roped for a long time. His parents are also team ropers, and by the time he was ten, Clay was roping off a horse.

    He heels for Cody Nye of Alliance, and rides a twelve year old roan named Joe, who shares a wonderful story with Clay. When Clay was five, he was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes and spent time in the hospital. At the same time, Joe was born with windswept legs, an angular limb deformity. No one thought the horse would turn out to be much, and they even considered putting him down. But as the days went on, Joe got better, and the family broke him, trained him, and now Clay ropes on him. So, just like Clay, Joe had a bad situation that turned out well.

    Clay wears an insulin pump, which simplifies his life, especially during rodeo, he says. He still has to watch what he eats, but the adrenaline from competition during rodeo is easier to control with the pump.

    He is a senior at McCool Junction High School, where he is involved in a lot of things, in part because it’s a small school. He played football, and is a member of FFA, Student Council, FBLA, FCA, and had a part in the One-Act. He was tricked into being a part of the One-Act cast, he says. “I was looking to get out of school a couple of extra days (for One-Act competition), and Coach said he had a part that was ‘just me’ – one line. In my mind, I took that as I had to say one line.” Turns out, the part was 70 lines, but Clay still got out of school for it!

    His parents run a feedyard and a farming operation, and he spends his time after school activities and in the summer helping with cattle and driving tractor. He can fix pens, doctor and feed cattle, disc, spray, and drive grain cart during harvest. His favorite part of the farm is the cattle side of things.

    He’s been to state finals twice in his rodeo career, as a sophomore in the team roping and steer wrestling, and as a junior in the team roping and tie-down roping. Last year, his goal was to make it back to the short-go in the tie-down, and he’s proud to say he accomplished that.

    After high school, Clay will attend college somewhere in Nebraska, and hopes to rodeo. He’ll work on an agri-business degree. He has an older sister, Shelby, who is pursuing a nursing degree at Central Community College in Grand Island. He is the son of Ken and Kelli Real.

  • Adam Wrenn

    Adam Wrenn

    Adam Wrenn is all about riding bulls. The fourteen year old cowboy, who lives on the outskirts of Belle Plaine, Kan., started riding sheep when he was five, and liked it right away. He graduated to calves, steers, and last year made the jump to bulls.

    He is in his first year of competition in the Kansas Junior High Rodeo Association, but it’s not his first association. Last year, he was an Oklahoma Junior High School Rodeo member, and has also been a member of the Northwest Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association, Out West Junior Bull Riders, the National Junior Bull Riding Association, the Heartland Youth Rodeo Association, the Kansas Junior Bull Riding Association, and the Oklahoma Kansas Youth Rodeo Association.

    He is an eighth grade student at Belle Plaine Middle School, where he enjoys math class, which is his best subject. Social studies isn’t his favorite, however. His favorite teacher was his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kinsley in Mooreland, Oklahoma. Adam started school in Mooreland and moved to Belle Plaine in second grade.

    He plays football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and runs track, and enjoys them all, but football is his favorite. He plays any position, wherever his coach needs him, and looks forward to playing for the Belle Plaine Dragons next year. He loves following the Oklahoma State football team and the Baltimore Ravens.

    Adam’s favorite bull riding role models are Lane Frost and J.B. Mauney. When he grows up, he hopes to pay for his college education with a bull riding scholarship, and possibly get a job involved with college sports.

    In his rodeo career, he has sprained his thumb, his right ankle, broken his nose, and got his head stepped on. The head injury was the worst one: he was riding a calf in 2007 in Shawnee, Okla., wearing a cowboy hat, when he got bucked off and the bull stepped on his head. He laid in the arena motionless, and after that, his parents insisted that he wear a helmet.

    Adam’s dad rode bulls in the pasture, but never competed, and neither did his mom. His older brothers, Chris and Jonathan, became interested
    in it when they overheard their dad visiting with a friend about riding. It spurred the older brothers to ride, and Adam became interested. “It made me want to do it, and I liked it from there.” The brothers don’t ride anymore, but Adam does.

    In addition to Chris, age 21 and Jonathan, age nineteen, he has another brother, Scott, who is seventeen. He also has a younger sister, Lorraine, who is four.

  • Charlie Romero

    Charlie Romero

    Charlie Romero is always looking for his next adrenaline rush. Whether it’s riding bulls, dirt bikes, mixed martial arts or four-wheelers, he loves living on the edge. The Kansas High School Rodeo Association member is in his first year with the organization, but has been riding bulls since he was twelve. Fellow contestant Dalton LaFalier encouraged him to join high school rodeo, and he loves it.

    He lives in Edna, Kan., twelve miles east of Coffeyville, and is a senior at Labette County High School in Altamont. School is easier this year, since most of his required classes are out of the way. He wrestles and is a member of FFA.

    When Charlie began riding bulls, it was in the National Junior Bull Riding Association, but after he got injured during a hang-up, his mom made him quit. He quit riding for two years, then began again at age sixteen. He got injured a second time, and then began wrestling.

    He credits Zach Strunk, a family friend who lives in Coffeyville, with getting him started. He rode the bucking barrel at Zach’s house, and Zach takes him to his high school rodeos. “He’s helped me so much, he’s been a brother to me,” Charlie said.

    Between riding bulls and doing crazy things, Charlie has had his share of broken bones. He’s broken his arm, collarbone, wrist and ankles, and his doctor teases him, telling him that his parents have helped build the new wing on the hospital with the doctor’s fees Charlie has incurred.

    This fall, he will compete at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami on a bull riding scholarship. He hopes to get a business and marketing degree. He also plans on going to farrier school and completing an equine dentistry degree, so he has some options for jobs. He hopes to get his Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association permit this March, fill it, make money and gain experience, and move on to the PBR ranks.

    The best bull he’s ever gotten on was one of Matt Williams’ bulls at the Emporia high school rodeo last year. The bull was a “nice, stocky red bull, that was really rank, really awesome,” Charlie remembers. “He was leaping and blowing up in the air like crazy.” Charlie went 7.8 seconds on him.

    But even though his thrills extend to dirt bike riding, MMA, and other dangerous things, he’s careful to not go too far. “Nothing too dangerous,” he says. “I have to keep my bull riding career.”

    “Bull riding is the main thing that keeps me going. It keeps me happy. I can’t get enough of it. It’s great.”

    Charlie has an older sister, Sarah Day, who lives in Coffeyville. He is the son of Carlos and Stephanie Romero.

  • Shy-Anne Jarrett

    Shy-Anne Jarrett

    Horses run through Shy-Anne Jarrett’s life. She gets up every morning thinking about them, and goes to bed with them on her mind. The Oklahoma cowgirl was born and raised in Comanche, and grew up with parents who rodeoed and a mom who trained futurity horses. As a youngster, Shy-Anne had an exceptionally good barrel horse, Rambling Rally, who carried her to the Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association Finals four times, when she was a young teenager. “It was pretty neat  at that age to have a horse like that,” she recalls. “I wish I had a barn-full of them right now.”

    In addition to the TCRA, she also competed in the Midwest Cowboys Rodeo Association. In high school, she did all the girls events and qualified for the National High School Finals three times: twice in the barrels (riding Rambling Rally) and once in the breakaway roping. She was also an International Pro Rodeo Association member.

    After high school, she got a full scholarship to rodeo at Vernon (Texas) College, and made the College National Finals twice, both times in the barrel racing. In 2003, she helped the Vernon College Women’s team win the CNFR, the same year that the men from Vernon also won it.

    During college, Shy-Anne began riding and training outside horses, “something I swore I’d never do,” she laughs. She had always started her own horses, and eventually, she was riding for the public. “I’ve always rode green horses, and got to riding for the public a little more and a little more, and it turned into full-time.” She enjoys it and is successful at it. “It’s been good to me,” she says. “I’ve sold some really nice horses.” She focuses on horses for young people. “When I was junior and high school rodeoing, I had two really good horses, so I know how important it is for that age group” to find success. “I try to train horses that those kids can grow up on.”

    Shy-Anne trains her horses for all events. “I rope on everything I have, run barrels, start them on poles. If I think it’s going to be more of a roping horse, I’ll take a goat out and get off a few times. I think it makes a better horse if he can do it all.”

    Shy-Anne is married to the 2005 All-Around World Champion Ryan Jarrett. They met through a mutual friend, who insisted that Shy-Anne needed to meet “this guy.” “I kept thinking, ‘Oh, boy, all I need is a boyfriend.’” But finally Ryan got her number. “He called me out of the blue one day. I didn’t have a clue who he was. We struck up a conversation, and actually talked for about a month before we ever met.” That was in the fall of 2005, and they were married in 2010.

    The couple runs cattle on wheat pasture and pre-conditions calves. When Ryan is on the road, Shy-Anne is home to help with cattle and chores, although she hits the road hard herself. “Somebody’s got to stay home and keep things going.” She has been a TCRA member for about eight years.

  • Mason Lowe

    Mason Lowe

    Mason Lowe is a bull rider in the Arkansas Cowboys Association. The twenty year old cowboy began rodeoing when his dad “throwed me on (a calf) when I was three and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

    He lives in Exeter, Mo., in the southwest part of the state, and graduated from Exeter High School in 2012. He is a student at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he also bull dogs and team ropes for the all-around points. Bull riding is his strength, however.

    In high school, Mason played baseball and was an FFA member. In college, he’s taking care of his required courses and isn’t sure what his major will be, although it will involve agriculture in some way. He loves to hunt whitetail deer and fish for trout, white bass and crappie. Mason’s grandpa, Larry Reed, cooks what he brings home, whether it’s frying the fish or processing the deer. Larry used to own a butcher shop and turns the deer into steaks, tenderloins, jerky, and summer sausage.

    Mason is in his second year of membership in the ACA. He’s been a member of the National Federation of Pro Bull Riders for six years and has been to their finals five times, winning the average and reserve year-end title last year. For his years of riding bulls, Mason hasn’t seen many injuries. He’s had stitches above his eye and in his fingers. The stitches in the fingers came when a bull reared up in the chute, his feet caught the bars, and when he came back down, his spur went through his hand.

    If he had to choose a bull that was his favorite, he’d choose 14 of Cline Hall’s. He got on 14 at the ACA Finals last year in the first go-round and was 82 points on him. He also favors a black bull of Hall’s, who he rode in the second go-round at the Finals.

    Mason has an older sister, Kayla, who is 24, and a younger step-sister, Alyssa, who is eight. He is the son of Jerry and Melissa Whisenhunt and Stacy Lowe.

  • Waylon Davis

    Waylon Davis

    Waylon Davis has been team roping competitively for only a year, but in 2013 he roped himself a chance to compete in the World Series of Team Roping Finale. The 24-year-old cowboy came home from the famous event with $130,600. For Waylon, the journey to the WSTR took hard work and smart thinking. “You’ve got to do your homework, work hard, and practice a lot,” he says. “A lot of people have helped me along the way.”

    Waylon grew up in Breckinridge, Texas with a rope in hand, but he didn’t become involved in rodeo until he was 12. “My older brother (Reece Clark) took me around with him when I was 12 and let me cowboy with him. I started riding horses and broncs and roping and shoeing.” When he was 16, Waylon started competing in ranch rodeos and ranch bronc ridings, as his serious pursuit of roping was yet to come.

    After graduating from high school, Waylon went to Ranger Junior College with a rodeo scholarship and competed on the school’s rodeo team in saddle bronc riding. Funding his schooling required working several jobs, and after a semester and a half of such a demanding schedule, Waylon decided to quit school. He began working day jobs at ranches, riding colts, and shoeing horses. “I cowboyed mainly until everyone shipped their cattle out during the drought. Then I got a chance to go to TCU (Texas Christian University) for the ranch management program. I graduated and that’s how I go to Weatherford (Texas).”

    Following his graduation from TCU, Waylon found a place to live in Weatherford where he met Slick Robison. Robison trains roping horses, and ended up being the person to help Waylon with his big start in team roping. “I was roping and riding with him every day,” says Waylon. “We’d go to jackpots around home. I started out a #4 header and heeler. I got my card and the first one (WSTR team roping) I went to I won $5,000. Then we went to Stephenville (Texas) with the same #4 card. I roped with A.P. Jones and we won $3,200 in that one. After that they finally bumped me to a 5 elite. I went to Graham and entered the #12 finale and won that and split $35,000 with my partner, Clint Johnson.”

    During this whirlwind of team roping, Waylon and a group of cowboys he knew from ranching were competing in ranch rodeos. At the Western Heritage Classic in Abilene, Texas, Waylon won Top Hand, earning him a bit and a hand tooled saddle. Not long after that, he won Top Hand at the All-Around Performance Horse Ranch Rodeo Challenge in Glenrose, Texas and came home with another saddle. At that same ranch rodeo in Glenrose, Waylon and his teammates Nathan Carter, Cody Carter, Slick Robison, and Reid McGee won the entire rodeo. Over roughly 30 days during the spring, Waylon won nearly $30,000 dollars from team roping. He is the owner of eight new saddles and more belt buckles than he can recall. Team roping has turned into his fulltime job.

    After Waylon qualified for the WSTR Finale, his main team roping horse, a six-year-old bay called Day Trash was kicked in the knee in early November. X-rays showed that it was a bone chip. Day Trash was still able to compete in Las Vegas, where he helped Waylon win the big money in the #10 roping. Waylon had been practicing with the brother-sister duo Shawn and Danielle Darnall while preparing for the WSTR in Las Vegas. Among the roping horses that Waylon drove to Las Vegas was Funny Face, a head horse that he borrowed from Danielle Darnall and her boss, Jeff Busby.. Waylon set off to Vegas with the Darnells, splitting the 20 hour trip into two days.

    Waylon’s roping partners for the WSTR were John C. Brian, Clint Johnson, Troy Brown, Bud Lowrey, and Chase Harris. Waylon competed in five ropings altogether, but ropings #10 and #13 are where he and his partners had successful runs. Waylon was heeling for John C. Brian in the #10 when they won $250,000, cutting a $125,000 check for each cowboy. He topped off his winnings with the $5,600 that he won heading with Clint Johnson in the #13. “It turned out really good for all three of us,” says Waylon. His girlfriend, Hannah Flowers, flew in to surprise him in Las Vegas, arriving just after he won the #10. When it was all over after 11 exciting yet long days away from home, Waylon was ready to put his truck into gear and head home.

    In one year, Waylon’s team roping has earned him nearly $180,000. He is greatly encouraged by his success in 2013, and in conclusion, he said, “I’m just going to keep team roping and try to qualify again (for the WSTR Finale) next year. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and try to be more successful.”

  • Mandy Bari

    Mandy Bari

    Mandy Bari rides a horse with a disability, but the horse has no idea that he is at a disadvantage. Her ten year old barrel horse, Forest (named after the character in the movie “Forest Gump”), is blind in one eye. Forest, whose registered name is Forest Firewater, was born ten years ago, after his dam carried him for twelve months. When he was born, his front legs wouldn’t straighten out, so he wore braces.

    As a four year old, Mandy made the Barrel Futurities of America Finals in Oklahoma City on him. When he was seven, he developed an irritation in the eye. In the process of doctoring it over a month and a half period, he scratched it while rubbing it, and an ulcer developed. The veterinarian treated the ulcer for another three weeks, but it never improved. Forest was in so much pain, that the vet advised Mandy that the eye should be removed. Mandy agreed, and Forest’s right eye was removed. Two days later, Mandy brought him home. “He was fine, he was running and playing and had no pain.”

    And Forest has no idea that he only has his left eye. As he runs the barrel pattern, he loses sight of the first barrel, but rarely knocks it over. “He runs exactly the same as if (the eye) was in there,” Mandy says. “He runs normal to me.” And the loss of the eye hasn’t changed his temperament, either. “Most horses I know that have lost an eye are skittish and you have to be careful around them. But not him. My little girl is around him all the time, and he knows right where you’re at.” Mandy speculates that the loss of his sight in the eye was gradual, so Forest never realized his vision was gone.

    Mandy has competed on Forest at three of the ten Arkansas Cowboys Association Finals Rodeos for which she has qualified. She rode him in 2010 at the Finals, just four days after his eye had been removed. In 2011, she was second in the average on him, and in 2012, she won the average.

    The Arkansas Cowboys Association member has lived in Jonesboro, Ark. her entire life. Before she had Forest, she grew up on a little gray mare, Dolly. “Everybody in the state remembers ol’ Dolly,” Mandy says. She went to the ACA Finals on Dolly three times, and after Dolly, she rode a bay mare named Hazel, who also carried her to the Finals.

    Mandy is a graduate of Westside High School in Jonesboro and Arkansas State University, where she graduated with a degree in animal science. She worked as a secretary for a construction company and as a vet tech, until May of 2012, when she had her daughter, Laura Mae. Now she is a stay at home mom.

    She and her husband Chuck married in 1999. Chuck has never competed in rodeo but loves it, “more than I do,” Mandy says. He goes with her and helps get Forest ready. This year, he’s helped babysit Laura Mae while Mandy runs. He also drives tractor to do the groundwork at some of the big barrel races, including the Lucky Dog Barrel Races.

    Mandy also competes in the International Pro Rodeo Association, the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association, and in 4Ds. Laura Mae travels with her mom and dad, unless it’s going to be a late night, and then she stays with her grandma. Mandy’s dad and brother, Randy and Cody Emerson, are also ACA members.

  • Tina Deshotels

    Tina Deshotels

    Tina Deshotels is a barrel racer in the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association. The eighteen year old cowgirl, who lives in Mamou, La., is in her third year of high school rodeo.

    She rides a thirteen year old bay gelding named Dennis the Menace, whose name fits him well. “He’s very high maintenance,” Tina says. “We make plenty of trips to the vet, chiropractor, and the dentist.” Menace, as he is nicknamed, also loves company. “He’s very much a people horse,” she says. “He’s very cuddly and in everybody’s business. He’s always hanging around.”

    The senior in high school is homeschooled, and dispels the rumor that home schooling is easy. “You don’t get to do it in your pajamas like everybody thinks.” The best part of homeschooling is that she can finish early and ride. The worst part of homeschooling is the self-discipline, “to sit down and do your work.” But being self-disciplined is beneficial, she believes. Homeschool, she believes, also helps a person mature faster. “You learn a lot more around your parents than you do in school.” She’s learned how to change a blown-out tire, for example. “You learn to grow up a little bit more. You have to be mature about it.”

    In school, her favorite subject is math, and she has enjoyed Bible class, where the class has studied not just the Bible but personal finance. When her school day is over, Tina rides and works for her dad. Her dad has a real estate business and a septic tank business, so she answers the phone, does computer work, writes receipts, and runs errands.

    Her earnings go towards payments on the Hummer H3 that she bought last summer. Even though the Hummer is new to her, she’s thinking about replacing it with a truck. The Hummer “isn’t too good on gas, not at all,” she admits, and the truck would be useful for hauling her horse.

    Tina has two older brothers, Alec, 26, and Robbie, 24, and an older sister, Valli, who is 21. She also has two nephews, Eli and Cy, who are both two years old, and love their Aunt Tina, or “Nana,” as they call her. She loves to play with them and read books to them.

    After high school, she hopes to attend college and major in a business related field. She may not college rodeo but will focus on her studies. Tina will compete in local open barrel racings, and someday, wants to join the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association to rodeo professionally. She is the daughter of Luke and Jonell Deshotels.

  • Krista Romero

    Krista Romero

    Krista Romero’s family loves it when she’s baking in the kitchen. The thirteen year old cowgirl’s specialties are cakes, cookies, and cupcakes, especially red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Everybody in her family loves her red velvet cupcakes, and sometimes she even decorates them with sprinkles or pretty patterns cut out of fondue.

    The Church Point, La. cowgirl competes in the Louisiana Junior High Rodeo Association as a barrel racer and pole bender, with barrels being her favorite event.She rides the same horse for both events, an eleven year old named Pete. Pete is really good, but really smart, and he can be a troublemaker. He sometimes gives her problems in the alleyway. At home, when she goes to catch him, he runs away. “But he still takes care of me,” she says.

    She is an eighth grade student at Richard Elementary in Church Point, and she loves the teachers at the school, who are always willing to help her out. But her favorite teacher is Miss Comeaux, her seventh grade English teacher, because “she always said how good her students are, and she encouraged us to do better in school, and she helped me a lot, too.” Krista still has her for enrichment classes at the end of the day.

    She likes to read mystery books and is currently reading “Close to Famous.” It’s about a girl who loves to bake and wants to become famous through her baking. She is a 4-H participant and plays volleyball. Krista’s mom helps her with her baking, and even though she doesn’t do much cooking yet, she enjoys her favorite meal her mom makes: chicken fettuccine. The family has two pet dogs: Max, a Shih Tzu, and Cookie, who is part rat terrier and part Shih Tzu. Cookie claims Krista as “her person,” and sleeps with her every night. She doesn’t hog the bed, but she sure hogs the pillow.

    Krista also competes in the National Barrel Horse Association, where she has qualified for the World NBHA Show two years, and has also qualified for July of this year. She qualified for the junior high state finals last summer. When she was younger, she competed in the Acadiana Youth Rodeo Association, where she’s won several buckles. When she grows up, she’d like to be a veterinarian. Her favorite animals are horses. She is the daughter of Rickey and Christy Romero.