story by Lindsay Whelchel
Cassie Vaughan’s life is steeped in rodeo history and tradition. Her grandparents Kenny and Debbie Vaughan were heavily involved in the International Professional Rodeo Association in the organization’s early days, with Kenny working as a pickup man and Debbie as an IPRA photographer.
And as all family traditions are, rodeo was passed down through the generations for the Vaughan family.
Cassie’s dad became a calf roper in the IPRA, and originally from Ottawa Lake, Michigan, Cassie grew up playing as a child on the many rodeo grounds her family traveled to throughout the year. IPRA stock contractors and contestants became like a second family to young Cassie. It was inevitable she would join in the sport in some way. Because of her dad, she picked up a rope. Because of the IPRA’s induction of breakaway roping as a regular event in the professional rodeo season, Cassie has been able to take her passion to the next level in the same association as her family.
Cassie went through the high school and college rodeo ranks after her dad taught her how to rope, competing for Rogers State University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University on the rodeo teams. She also enjoyed the barrels and goat tying, but there was no denying her heart was in the breakaway roping.
“The whole event just draws me in. I really take the horsemanship part that’s my favorite part about it. I’ve gotten to ride with some guys that have trained horses and taught me a lot about the way that the horse should work,” Cassie describes.
A few years ago, just as Cassie was coming out of college, where she studied education, the IPRA added breakaway roping, and Cassie’s future as a professional in the sport was catapulted.
But she is also now a school teacher at Burcham Elementary in Weatherford, Oklahoma teaching kindergarten, so she isn’t able to travel to some of the far rodeos during the school year, putting a tighter window on her competition efforts. Her first couple of years in the IPRA, Cassie missed qualifying for the International Finals Rodeo by as little as five and fifteen dollars.
“When I made it to my first [IFR] it was a huge accomplishment to me because of course being a teacher I have to spend a lot of time at home, and it’s hard for me to get to go to some of the bigger rodeos,” Cassie says, and adds sentimentally, “the IPRA is kind of like a family to me. I’m very close with a lot of the people in the organization, and it just means a lot to me, this association does.”
Now, Cassie is a multi-time IFR qualifier, and she’s seen the sport of breakaway really take off in the IPRA over the past few years.
“We are very, very fortunate; us breakaway ropers are. It’s wonderful when a rodeo adds breakaway. We know we’re a new event, and we really appreciate the event being added,” she enthuses. “To me, every summer has gotten busier and busier. We have a lot more options on where we can go, because more committees are adding breakaway to their rodeos, so I feel very blessed and fortunate to be able to keep busy all summer. Rodeo to me is kind of like my vacation almost, because I’m getting to go all the time and see new places, and I really enjoy being on the road.”
And no doubt, being on the road in the IPRA is only natural for Cassie. After all, she’s just carrying on the family name…
Cassie would like to thank her family for always standing behind her and doing everything they can to help her, along with her boyfriend, IFR qualifier Cody Goertzen and IPRA traveling partner Jenna Lee Hays, and the Hays family for their support, as well as her sponsors, Tres Rios Silver and Watson’s Welding and Fabrication Services LLC. “Just anybody down the road who has ever helped me get where I am today, I’m very very appreciative of everybody, she says.”
