story by Ruth Nicolaus
Hayden Williams is in his first year of competition in the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The thirteen year old cowboy, who lives in Wanship, Utah, competes in the breakaway roping, team roping, and chute dogging. He is a heeler for Carson Lawson.
His mount is an eleven year old mare named Frenchie, a buckskin who is a good ranch horse. She can head or heel, and can be used for the breakaway, too.
Hayden is an eighth grade student at North Summit Middle School, where he loves science class and hanging out with his friends. He plays basketball and in 4-H, shows club lambs.
For fun, he likes to hunt elk, deer, pheasants, ducks and geese and do nearly anything outdoors. The family likes to camp and fish, and they often camp in Spring Canyon, where his dad runs cows in the summer. From the house, it’s a half-hour trip in the truck on a dirt road.
Hayden and his family live on a ranch, where he has chores to do: feeding, vaccinating, branding, and calving. He loves to help with chores.
His mom and dad, Crystal and Jed, appreciate their son. “He’s got a big heart and a lot of try,” Crystal said. He also likes to see how an entire process works. For example, he began showing lambs and then decided to raise his own show sheep. “He was a natural at that,” his mom said. “He checks it all out (whatever he is doing) and puts his whole heart and soul into it. When he has a passion for something, you can’t deter him.” When he grows up, Hayden would like to be a hunting guide. He has a brother, Tad, and a sister,
Fallon.
