The month of May is filled with graduations. They come in all shapes and sizes. There is kindergarten graduation, high school graduation, college graduation, and a host of other completions. One definition in the Cambridge dictionary says this, “Graduation is a ceremony at which you are officially said to have finished.” Sometimes the ceremonies are large and elaborate and sometimes they are just a quiet knowing that you are done with “that.”
Pertaining to horses and rodeo, it was very satisfying to watch my children graduate from riding a pony to riding a big horse. Graduating from goat tying to calf tying was also wonderful, as I am not fond of having goats around. Sorry, goat lovers, but they are a pain in the rear end to me. As the kids got older and became better riders, they graduated to faster and more powerful horses. We were careful not to overmount our kids, as it can result in disaster, injury, or complete disdain with the sport. Graduating from junior high rodeos to high school rodeos was a step up in the game that our kids embraced and made things even funner.
Some graduations bring sadness, mainly to the parents, as it signals an end of an era. Life as we once knew it, changes and the unknown can be a little scary. My husband and I find ourselves reminiscing about high school rodeos when we would travel as a family and watch our kids compete. Our kids did college rodeo also, but it was quite different. The rodeos were often too far for ma and pa to travel to, and they did it on their own and would call and tell us about it and send videos.
Catching up a little on the junior high and high school rodeos, I will start with the Kansas High School Rodeo in Lakin. It was held May 3rd and 4th at the Kearny County Fairgrounds. On Saturday, Madison Crane (3.5 seconds) and Briley Seufer (4.3 seconds) fell just out of the points by being 12th and 14th respectively in the breakaway roping. Both suffered a “no time” on Sunday. Crane was 6th in the goat tying with 8.5 seconds and then 10th in the same event with 9.3 seconds. Zaidyn Daniels and partner, Brandyn Duarte suffered two “no times” in the team roping over the weekend. The same plight fell on Heston Seufer and Treagyn Duarte in the team roping. Seufer and T. Duarte are setting in 4th place and need to make some noise at state finals to punch their ticket for nationals. They take the top 4 teams to nationals, and this duo only has a 4-point lead over 5th place. In the junior high division, Hudson Crane had a big weekend. He won the breakaway roping with a time of 2.67 seconds. He was 6th (14.87 seconds) and 3rd (12.16 seconds) in the goat tying. Conley Hall failed to get a time in the breakaway, but she and partner, Luke Penrod, won 8th in the team roping with a time of 28.88 seconds.
On the west side of the border, Colorado Junior High School Rodeo saw Slade Lord win 3rd in the tie down roping both days. He was 15.8 seconds on Saturday and 14.19 seconds on Sunday. He and partner, Easton Zeldenthuis, failed to stop the clock in the team roping. The state finals will be in Craig May 22-26.
Results of the May 4th Southeast Colorado Can Chasers are as follows: Open 1D-Stephanie Spitz, Sydni Blanchard, Angie Hoss; 2D-Dwana Salisbury x2, Bobbi Jones, Riatta Grokett; 3D-LeeAnn Ridley, Connie Hill, Karisa Brookshire, Bianca O’Bryan; 4D-Shone Allsworth, Dawni O’Bryan, Karisa Brookshire, and Theresa Batterton.
If you are graduating a child from one phase of life to another, I want to encourage you in the fact that, that is what we do. We prepare them to take the world by storm and to go make a difference being the most outstanding individual possible. Will they make mistakes? Yes, let them. Just let them know there is always a listening ear, a homecooked meal, and a parent’s prayer whenever they need it.
Happy Trails.
