story by Lily Weinacht
Kennadie Radford is one of the GCPRA’s younger competitors. The 12-year-old barrel racer from Phoenix, Arizona, is very comfortable competing with the adults of the association, while she also competes in the WPRA Junior program and several of the Queens Creek Junior Rodeos. “Kennadie has been an only child for most of her life, so she gets along with adults and makes all sorts of friends,” says her step-mom, Amanda Radford.
“Rodeo just makes me happy!” says Kennadie, who started rodeoing two years ago, around the same time she joined the GCPRA. “I’ve been riding almost my entire life, and when my dad and step-mom got married, I started rodeoing with her. I look up to her because the horse I’m running is one of her horses, so she’s been teaching me how to train him and ride him, and just get better and better.” She also looks up to Fallon Taylor. “I like how she wears helmets – I wear a helmet,” Kennadie explains. “I have a Fallon Taylor helmet but I don’t fit in it yet.”
Kennadie Radford with Dollar – courtesy of the family
“The horse Kennadie is riding and all the horses on our property are out of our stallion, and Kennadie runs his firstborn (Dollar). They are just amazing,” says Amanda. “She’s been a big part of birthing them and breaking them, and it’s been a big experience. She took Dollar over when he was young, and I had started him but didn’t have him competitive ready. They’re connected at the hip and he follows her everywhere.” Kennadie loves Dollar’s goofy side, particularly when he sticks out his tongue. “He’s seven, and I’ve ridden him for two years. On him, it’s hard to practice because he won’t do the same things that he would when we’re running (at rodeos), so if I’m having problems, I mostly walk him around and fix it. We take him to the lake a lot, and we have a big desert field behind our house, so I trot and walk him there.”
The Radfords have many more horses and almost too many dogs to count, according to Kennadie, but their two border collies travel to rodeos. Kennadie and Amanda do most of their traveling together, and Kennadie’s dad, John, goes along as often as possible. “When it’s just me and my step-mom, we usually listen to music and we talk, and when we have a whole bunch of people, I usually listen to an audio book. I’ve been listening to the Harry Potter books.”
A seventh-grader this fall at Explorer Middle School, Kennadie especially enjoys math. “I like figuring things out and having to think about it. For my school last year, we did track and field and I was in a relay team.” Kennadie also likes swimming, and this summer she’s going on a cruise for the first time with her mom and step-dad’s family to Bermuda. She has a younger brother and sister, and both love coming to watch Kennadie ride.
“I like the adrenaline that gets pumping before I run barrels, and it’s just a lot of fun. It makes me happy whenever I run, and I’m working on making my turns really tight now and not hitting barrels,” says Kennadie. “I like the Apache Junction rodeo because the pictures from there are really cool with the mountains, and there’s a huge Ferris wheel I’ve ridden.” Her chief goal, however, is competing at the GCPRA finals for the first time. “I really want to go to the Grand Canyon finals, so I’m trying really hard to qualify.”
