story by Siri Stevens
Jaylee Young came back from Huron, South Dakota, with the Girls All Around Championship, Rookie of the Year, and World Champion Pole Bending title. This is her first year competing in the Oklahoma Junior High Rodeo. “We knew people competing and they were telling us to come and compete. We decided to go this year – I’m very glad I did,” said the 14-year-old cowgirl from Rattan, Oklahoma. “Rattan is really really small – we have a school, store, post office, and that’s about it.” Jaylee spends her time rodeoing, playing softball and basketball.
She started competing when she was very young. “We did play days locally and then I moved to the TJRA (Texoma Junior Rodeo Association), and moved from to the OYRA (Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association).” Now she competes at OYRA and the junior high. She learned the sport of rodeo from her parents (Kim and Frankie) and grandparents. “Pretty much my whole family rodeos.”
She won the pole bending title on Dandy, a 9-year-old gelding. “I bought with my own money when he was 2 and brought him home.” She was 8, and he was a wild horse. Her dad tried to sell him to anyone but Jaylee didn’t want to sell him and eventually she got him broke. “We sent him to my neighbor who heels and ever since then, I started breaking him on barrels and poles and that’s how he came along. He’s one of the most special horses I’ve ever had. I think he just needed time to mature.” She’s proud of the way her horse has turned out. “Everything I do it’s him – he’s easy to ride and amazing.”
This was her first trip to South Dakota. “There’s no humidity,” she said of the state. “It wasn’t hot and sticky – it was great. At night sometimes I had to wear a jacket.” She met people from all over and had a great time.
She made it to Nationals in barrels, poles, and goats and came back in the short round in two of the three events. The first round in poles, a 20.2 was winning it – and she knew she needed a solid first run. She was a 20.8 and 8th in the first round. “My goat got up in the first round and that put me in a mood of not being happy. So I had to let that go and realize I couldn’t change it. I figured after that I had no shot for the All Around.” Her barrel run was pretty good and then round two started.
“I came up here ready for poles – I knew I had a good horse and a 20.2 won the first round, so I knew I had to step it up. I went in and made a run 19.9 – that was the first time I was under 20. Barrels I ran in a 16.1 and I got my goat tied in 8.3 and that won the performance. So I knew my second round went well. Then I got to thinking –I got moved up and maybe I had a chance to win poles. The girl beating me was just beating me by a tenth of a second.”
She made it to the short go in both barrels and poles. “I wasn’t nervous, but I knew I had to go in and not mess it up.” Barrels came first. “I didn’t have that good a run, but shook it off and got ready for poles. I run the same horse, so I was getting ready for poles, and I ran a 19.6. I could hear my mom and my sister screaming. I could barely breathe when I came out.”
She will spend the rest of the summer going to rodeos, starting with the IFYR, where her older sister, Lexy, will compete on Dandy. “I’m going to hit some rodeos around here and hang out with my family.”
She came back from South Dakota with two saddles, five buckles, two coolers, a lot of supplements from Platinum, horse blankets, hats, CINCH certificates for clothes, and close to $4,000 in scholarships. The scholarships she will put towards going to college, where she plans to college rodeo and pursue a degree in something that will help kids or people, the things she likes to do.
“I want to thank the Good Lord for blessing me with my horse, my family and everything I get to do,” she concludes. “And I also want to thank everyone that is behind the scenes making this possible.”
