Abbi Bowthorpe at the 2017 UJHSRA State Finals - Western Edge Photography

Meet the Member Abbi Bowthorpe

story by Riata Christiansen

Abbi Bowthorpe is an eighth grader and attends Rocky Mountain Middle School. Her favorite subjects include math and English, because she thrives at those. During the winter, she plays on the basketball team and likes spending the time with her friends and staying in shape for rodeo season. She lives in small town Wallsburg, Utah, near Heber City. She likes that it is a small town and she can have her horses close to her. She even has a practice arena in her backyard.
Abbi has three siblings; an older brother named Carson, a younger sister named Oakley, and a younger brother named Bronson. As a family, they spend a lot of time outside, whether that be hunting or rodeoing. Abbi especially loves hunting with her dad, Marc. They deer hunt, elk hunt, lion hunt, and even bear hunt. They own 9 hound dogs, and she loves to run the dogs with her dad. Abbi’s hero is her mom, Chantelle. Her mom taught her everything she knows about riding and horses.
During the rodeo season, Abbi tries to practice every week day. She spends some time on her horses working the barrels and poles, and ropes calves twice a week and the dummy on the off days. Her horses include Stroker for breakaway, Ratchet for barrels and poles, and Badger who runs barrels and poles and is learning to be a breakaway horse. Badger helped teach Abbi how to ride and is naturally her favorite. He takes care of her an anyone else they put on his back. Abbi’s favorite event is the barrel racing because she likes the thrill of competing at a fast pace. She enjoys challenging herself to do better each time. This fall at the Heber City Junior High School Rodeo, she had her best run yet and finished fourth. After a good run she enjoys the feeling of success and fulfillment. It helps her see her hard work pay off and makes her proud of her progress with her horses. This year she would like to win a little more and qualify the Utah Junior High School State Finals in each of her events. Her favorite part of rodeo is getting to spend time with her family and friends.
In a frame hanging in Abbi’s room is the saying, “While most are dreaming of success, winners wake up and work for it.” This helps keep her motivated and reminders her that practice is the only way to become successful. Her determined attitude has brought her far and will continue to push her to greater heights.

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