- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,255,745
- Reaction score
- 59
When Hadlee Landers was 2 or 3 years old, she paid cash for her first horse.
Which leads to a couple of questions. How does a toddler have the money to buy a horse? And, pony rides aside, can a kid that young even ride a horse?
As to the first question, the cash was a loan from her parents. And to the second, you quickly find out that age has never limited Landers.
The 12-year-old barrel racer from Lawton will compete this weekend in the American Rodeo Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. This isn’t a junior-level event, by the way. Landers will be riding against some of the top barrel racers in the world regardless of age.
Now in its 13th year, the American Rodeo Championship Weekend brings together regional qualifiers like Landers as well as cowboys and cowgirls from the pro ranks. A $2 million prize is on the line.
We caught up with a few of the Oklahomans who will be competing.
More: Memorial Day weekend events across Oklahoma start off summertime
Hadlee Landers and her horse, Regally Classic, are one in the same.
“Both are sassy and hard-headed,” Landers’ mom, Dacia Hilliary, said.
In barrel racing, that kind of bond between a rider and her horse is everything. The two move as one as they race in a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels. Like a skier around slalom gates, Landers navigates Regal Classic around each barrel with speed and precision. It’s all over in about 15 seconds.
Landers will be competing against cowgirls who have been barrel racing longer than she's been alive. Some by a lot.
Hilliary remembers taking her daughter to a barrel race in Amarillo, Texas, when Landers was 4 years old.
“She’s always thrived and enjoyed it,” Hilliary said. “She’s a super humble kid. She takes her wins and she takes her losses, and she just continues to move forward and stay positive in everything she does.”
The loan her parents gave her for her first horse? She’s already paid it back with prize money.
A lot of rodeo events are based on real-life tasks cowboys and cowgirls do every day.
“How I got my start is by doctoring sick cattle,” Chizm Kuykendall said.
In order to doctor a sick calf, you first have to rope it. That was Kuykendall’s job working for his family’s livestock operation in Carnegie.
In tie-down roping, also known as calf roping, a calf busts out of a chute with the mounted rider in close pursuit. The rider ropes the calf, jumps off his horse, flips the calf on its side and ties three of its legs together. The fastest time wins.
Kuykendall, 19, and his horse, Jagg, have formed quite the partnership.
“He was a diamond in the rough,” Kuykendall said. “He wasn’t really proven. He hadn’t been to a whole lot of rodeos and dang sure hadn’t been on a stage as big as even Oklahoma City at the regional finals. Dang sure not Arlington.”
Kuykendall is a freshman at Weatherford College, 30 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas, where he’s on a rodeo scholarship.
“I’m gonna try to think of it as just another calf, which we all know it’s $2 million, so it’s not just another run,” Kuykendall said of competing in the American Rodeo Championship. “But that’s how I’m going to go about it. If it works out, great. If not, it was an awesome opportunity and we’ll try it again.”
ShyAnne Jarrett has been to the American Rodeo Championship before, only as a spectator. Her husband, Ryan Jarrett, is in the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. His speciality is tie-down roping.
“We’ve both been able to do this together,” ShyAnne Jarrett said.
But all of the attention will be on ShyAnne this weekend as she competes in breakaway roping.
Breakaway roping is similar to tie-down roping in that the rider tries to rope the calf as fast as possible. But that’s it. There’s no wrangling the calf like in tie-down.
ShyAnne, 42, has been competing in rodeos since she was 5. While fellow Oklahoman Hadlee Landers will be one of the youngest competitors at the American, ShyAnne will be one of the oldest.
“There are some amazing young athletes,” Jarrett said. “They’ve really changed the game of rodeo. They’ve brought it to a whole new level … They’ve made me want to work harder at it.”
Warning to the younger riders: Don’t discount Jarrett’s experience.
“I do feel like I have a little bit of an advantage. Maybe a little bit wiser,” Jarrett said with a laugh.
Friday, May 22
7:30 p.m., American Rodeo semifinals on FS2
Saturday, May 23
12:30 p.m., American Rodeo showdown round on FS1
4 p.m., American Rodeo Championship round on FOX
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawton's Hadlee Landers, 12, to compete in American Rodeo championship
Continue reading...
Which leads to a couple of questions. How does a toddler have the money to buy a horse? And, pony rides aside, can a kid that young even ride a horse?
As to the first question, the cash was a loan from her parents. And to the second, you quickly find out that age has never limited Landers.
The 12-year-old barrel racer from Lawton will compete this weekend in the American Rodeo Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. This isn’t a junior-level event, by the way. Landers will be riding against some of the top barrel racers in the world regardless of age.
Now in its 13th year, the American Rodeo Championship Weekend brings together regional qualifiers like Landers as well as cowboys and cowgirls from the pro ranks. A $2 million prize is on the line.
We caught up with a few of the Oklahomans who will be competing.
More: Memorial Day weekend events across Oklahoma start off summertime
You must be registered for see images attach
Hadlee Landers, Lawton: Barrel racing
Hadlee Landers and her horse, Regally Classic, are one in the same.
“Both are sassy and hard-headed,” Landers’ mom, Dacia Hilliary, said.
In barrel racing, that kind of bond between a rider and her horse is everything. The two move as one as they race in a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels. Like a skier around slalom gates, Landers navigates Regal Classic around each barrel with speed and precision. It’s all over in about 15 seconds.
Landers will be competing against cowgirls who have been barrel racing longer than she's been alive. Some by a lot.
Hilliary remembers taking her daughter to a barrel race in Amarillo, Texas, when Landers was 4 years old.
“She’s always thrived and enjoyed it,” Hilliary said. “She’s a super humble kid. She takes her wins and she takes her losses, and she just continues to move forward and stay positive in everything she does.”
The loan her parents gave her for her first horse? She’s already paid it back with prize money.
You must be registered for see images
Chizm Kuykendall, Carnegie: Tie-down roping
A lot of rodeo events are based on real-life tasks cowboys and cowgirls do every day.
“How I got my start is by doctoring sick cattle,” Chizm Kuykendall said.
In order to doctor a sick calf, you first have to rope it. That was Kuykendall’s job working for his family’s livestock operation in Carnegie.
In tie-down roping, also known as calf roping, a calf busts out of a chute with the mounted rider in close pursuit. The rider ropes the calf, jumps off his horse, flips the calf on its side and ties three of its legs together. The fastest time wins.
Kuykendall, 19, and his horse, Jagg, have formed quite the partnership.
“He was a diamond in the rough,” Kuykendall said. “He wasn’t really proven. He hadn’t been to a whole lot of rodeos and dang sure hadn’t been on a stage as big as even Oklahoma City at the regional finals. Dang sure not Arlington.”
Kuykendall is a freshman at Weatherford College, 30 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas, where he’s on a rodeo scholarship.
“I’m gonna try to think of it as just another calf, which we all know it’s $2 million, so it’s not just another run,” Kuykendall said of competing in the American Rodeo Championship. “But that’s how I’m going to go about it. If it works out, great. If not, it was an awesome opportunity and we’ll try it again.”
ShyAnne Jarrett, Comanche: Breakaway roping
ShyAnne Jarrett has been to the American Rodeo Championship before, only as a spectator. Her husband, Ryan Jarrett, is in the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. His speciality is tie-down roping.
“We’ve both been able to do this together,” ShyAnne Jarrett said.
But all of the attention will be on ShyAnne this weekend as she competes in breakaway roping.
Breakaway roping is similar to tie-down roping in that the rider tries to rope the calf as fast as possible. But that’s it. There’s no wrangling the calf like in tie-down.
ShyAnne, 42, has been competing in rodeos since she was 5. While fellow Oklahoman Hadlee Landers will be one of the youngest competitors at the American, ShyAnne will be one of the oldest.
“There are some amazing young athletes,” Jarrett said. “They’ve really changed the game of rodeo. They’ve brought it to a whole new level … They’ve made me want to work harder at it.”
Warning to the younger riders: Don’t discount Jarrett’s experience.
“I do feel like I have a little bit of an advantage. Maybe a little bit wiser,” Jarrett said with a laugh.
How to watch American Rodeo Championship Weekend
Friday, May 22
7:30 p.m., American Rodeo semifinals on FS2
Saturday, May 23
12:30 p.m., American Rodeo showdown round on FS1
4 p.m., American Rodeo Championship round on FOX
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawton's Hadlee Landers, 12, to compete in American Rodeo championship
Continue reading...
