story by Lily Weinacht
Breakaway roper Carrie Coats holds cards with three associations – the NSRA, M-SRA, and KPRA – but with finals approaching, she prefers to leave the standings page unopened. “I don’t like to look at the standings, because it makes me paranoid about how well I have to do,” the 24 year old from Hastings, Nebraska, says with a laugh. “Breakaway roping is kind of a mental game, and it really pushes me to do better. I don’t have to focus on a partner, I can just focus on pushing myself to improve.”
Carrie started out showing horses in 4-H before entering junior high rodeo in sixth grade. She went on to high school rodeo, competing in all the girls events, and qualifying for Nationals in the pole bending her sophomore year. “I’ve been riding horses since I was two, and when my older brother and sister wanted to start rodeoing, my dad thought it would be great for all three of us to compete.” She college rodeoed for Hastings College four years, where she was coached by Justen Nokes, her brother-in-law and one of her rodeo inspirations. “He and my sister, Ashley, have been huge in helping me. My brother, Richard, is pro rodeoing, so he influences me by showing that no matter how young you are, you can still compete with the big dogs. They’re all very close to me.”
Currently, Carrie competes on her sister’s horse, Neilson, but hopes to start competing on the five-year-old gelding she’s been training. “I’ve been riding Neilson for three or four years now, and we team rope on him as well. Justen started him and works with him so he’s perfect for my sister and I. He’s a really great horse and never lets us down. We practice almost every night, whether it’s on horseback with calves, or roping the bale.” Carrie often hauls with Ashley and Justen, also NSRA competitors, as well as their dog, Reba, and Carrie’s seven-year-old daughter, Charli. “She always wants to warm up the horses before rodeos, and she just started swinging a rope, so she wants to follow in the family footsteps,” says Carrie. She never leaves for a rodeo without her iPad, chosen as the videographer by her friends. “I know so many people, it’s become one of my roles. We like to watch them to see how well we did or what we need to fix. Depending on the rodeo, I’ll video six people, or even as many as twelve.”
During the week, Carrie teaches high school math at Harvard High School. It’s her second year teaching, but her first at Harvard. “I love being around kids and helping them with their lives, not only in the classroom, but outside. With rodeo finals coming up, I’m trying to plan my rodeo schedule around my teaching schedule.” Any spare time is devoted to riding horses with Charli and playing volleyball with a city league in Hastings. “I’ve been with them about three years. I also love watching beach volleyball, especially during the Olympics. I like to joke that Kerri Walsh Jennings gets her talent from me, since we have the same name, but I’m not 6’3”,” Carrie says with a laugh.
“I’ve been a member of several associations for three years now and haven’t made it to the finals, so my goal every year is to make one of the finals,” she finishes. “If we’re going to four rodeos a weekend, my goal is to catch my calf at all four and get a check for at least two, so I make big goals and little goals to work on.”
