story by Siri Stevens
Haley Brown, from Ponca, Neb., took the All Around title at the Mid-States 2016 Finals. She just started rodeoing eight years ago. The 24 year old is not new to horses, growing up in the cutting world, with her younger sister, Cheyenne, and her parents, Rob and Holly. When she was a sophomore in high school, she told her dad that she wanted to try barrel racing, and decided to add roping when she was a junior. “I saw all the other kids doing it and I thought it looked like a lot of fun,” she said. She graduated from high school in 2010 and went to South Dakota State University on a rodeo scholarship, majoring in Ag Business and Animal Science. This is her second year competing in the Mid-States, she did it last year, as well as college rodeoed for South Dakota State and made it back to the short go at the CNFR in the breakaway and choked.
Thanks to the purchase of a 5-year-old gelding from Fulton Performance Horses, she is not choking anymore. “I got Snakebite this year and he helped me out with the All Around,” she explains. “Jackson Montgomery trained him and futuritied him and then I derbied him,” she explained. “He needed a lot of seasoning and so that’s why I went this year and it worked out. I took him to some barrel races this past winter, and he didn’t like the indoor arenas, but when we went to the outside, he kicked his wheels in and ever since he hasn’t slowed down. We’ve always made all our own horses, Snakebite is the only horse we’ve ever bought finished.”
When Haley graduated from college, she went to help her parents in Nebraska. “My dad bought an indoor barn in Ponca, Nebraska, last year, so we moved the training operation down there,” she explained. “I helped them ride horses and we travel back and forth to the ranch in South Dakota a couple times a month.” Haley has dedicated her time to training barrel and rope horses, currently riding eight outside horses, as well as five two year olds, three futurity prospects, and four rope prospects. “I try to ride them all five times a week, Monday through Friday. We put heat in there at the end of last winter, so we’ll be set to go this year.”
She has taken on another adventure, a tack store, Fringe and Feathers, due to open in the barn November 1. “There aren’t any good ones around, so I wanted to be able to have one right here. I’m really excited about it.” The store will carry several brands of ropes, saddles, bits, and tack, as well as American hats. Fringe and Feathers is located at the Arrow B Arena, 88043 Filly Drive, Ponca, Nebraska, 712-490-8992.
“We leased the ranch out in South Dakota, so now we just go back to ship or brand,” she said. Haley is looking forward to the upcoming winter. “I want to raise and train performance horses and continue with rodeo,” she said. “I am concentrating on horsemanship, something my dad instilled in me.” She continues to work on improving her skills. “I got to stay at Phil Haugens a couple inters ago and learn under him and I just attended a Sharon Camarillo clinic.” She is continuing to work on being light and being able to read a horse – and read a cow at the same time. “This winter I plan to go ride with Jackson Montgomery and go to a few futurities in Arizona if my horses are ready.”
