story by Ruth Nicolaus
Abby Lawton is in her last year of competition in the Nebraska Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The thirteen-year-old cowgirl, who lives in Overton, Nebraska, competes in the pole bending, barrel racing, goat tying, breakaway roping, and ribbon roping. In the ribbon roping, she is a runner for Matt Miller.
For the barrels and poles, her horse is a palomino mare named Tinkerbell. For the breakaway, her horse is a black gelding named Black Jack. And her goat tying horse is Polly, who also serves as her backup barrel horse.
Abby Lawton – Katie Cain
This fall, she is an eighth grade student at Overton Public School, where she loves math and science. She is a member of the Quiz Bowl team and FCCLA, plays volleyball, basketball, and runs track, and is on the honor roll.
Abby is a 4-H member, where she competes in the barrel racing and pole bending. She also sews and cooks. She’s made pillows, pillow cases and lounge pants, and her family loves it when she bakes. She’s exceptionally good at making breads, like zucchini, banana and pumpkin bread, and she likes to make cookies, too. Her favorite is white chocolate macadamia nut, and her dad loves the toffee oatmeal cookies she makes.
This summer, she had fun with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and her family at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where they swam and played mini golf, shuffle board, volleyball, and paddle board.
Her favorite meal her mom makes is barbecue meatballs; her favorite dessert her mom makes is fruit pizza. She loves Hershey’s candy bars, lemonade, and roast beef sandwiches with curly fries and mozzarella sticks at Arby’s.
When she grows up, she’d like to be a doctor or a veterinarian.
Abby has competed at the state finals the last two years, and at the National Junior High School Finals this past summer in the ribbon roping.
She has a younger sister, Kiley, who is nine, and a younger brother, Cort, who is six. She is the daughter of John and Lorna Lawton.
