story by Lily Weinacht
Karlie Robertson of Farmingdale, South Dakota, was named the Senior Girls Breakaway Roping World Champion at the 2016 NLBFR. It was an accomplishment both surprising and thrilling for Karlie, now 19, who joined in 2015 but started competing seriously in Little Britches last year. “I came in sitting ninety-fourth in points, and if I had consistent runs, I figured I might get the average under my belt,” says Karlie. “When they told me I won the World, it was a big surprise!”
Many of Karlie’s family members have rodeoed, including her parents, Justin and Patsy, and her older sister and younger brother, Tryn and Teigen. Karlie competed in high school and 4-H rodeo, along with the NRCA, and joined the NLBRA after her dad started judging several of their rodeos. “We’d heard about Little Britches from friends, and I really like the family aspect of all the rodeos and how everybody treats each other. My aunt and uncle are always willing to help me practice, and my mom and grandparents try to make it to all my rodeos. My dad makes sure I have an arena to practice in at home. He and my uncle used to ride broncs, and they run the roping chute.”
Along with breakaway roping, Karlie competes in ribbon roping with Katy Jade O’Daniel, and team roping as a header, but breakaway is her favorite. “I love how well my horse, Banjo, and I get along, and he loves it, which makes it more fun when your horse likes the event too. We got Banjo when he was four, and he was halfway broke. I trained him for roping, and he’s pretty special to me. He’s fourteen now, and I do all my roping events on him. We did some college rodeos, plus I’ll enter some SDRA rodeos this summer.”
Karlie and Banjo competed on the Eastern Wyoming College rodeo team in breakaway roping, and while the size of the college rodeos was somewhat daunting, Karlie is looking forward to continuing college rodeo. “I’m transferring to Laramie County Community College this fall, and I’ll be studying equine training and management.” This summer, Karlie is living in Hermosa, South Dakota, with her aunt and uncle while training horses and working as a ranch hand for friends of the family. She’ll compete in the Little Britches Badlands and Black Hills rodeos, and the SDRA on weekends, and she also goes home to rope with her brother and sister. “Tryn and I team rope, and her boyfriend team ropes as well, but we all head, so it’s hard to practice with each other,” Karlie says with a laugh. “We find people to heel for us, and we’re bringing Teigen up in the Little Britches world too. He does flag racing and breakaway as a junior boy, and he’ll start riding saddle broncs next year.”
During the summer, Karlie also enjoys going the lake and swimming, or going kayaking or boating with friends and family. This spring, she and Canton Afdahl won the first round of team roping at the Torrington Little Britches rodeo. “I hope to make it back to the Little Britches finals again this year and try to hold my title,” Karlie finishes. “I’d also like to make it to the College National Finals next year.”
