story by Lily Weinacht
Keenesburg, Colorado, native Peyton Stepanoff found her niche in the horse world at 10. Today, the 15-year-old barrel racer and pole bender is sitting in the top 12 in both her events in the CSHSRA, with plans of going pro already on her mind. “This is something that I truly love to do, and it’s all I do,” Peyton explains. “Probably my biggest motivation is that I’m really close with the Conrado family, and seeing where Ivy is and being behind the scenes of the big dream we all have is really motivational.” Peyton lives just a few minutes from the Conrados, and was introduced to them through one of her teachers. “We just really hit it off, and the Conrado family has done so much for me. Once Ivy started going down the road more, I would help, and she helps me. It’s been a really amazing friendship to have.”
While barrels are a firm favorite, Peyton started pole bending last year on a friend’s horse and fell in love with the event. “I’d never really thought about poles until my friend Chandler Ritchey graduated high school. Her horse is the most honest, cool dude, and she asked if I wanted to take him to rodeos. She couldn’t since she was going to college. Rocko is so easy it’s crazy, and he had a lot of success with Chandler, so I’m grateful she’s letting me ride him.”
Rather than settling in for the winter, Peyton goes to Arizona to keep her horses in shape. “I go ride with different people and work on my horses and my horsemanship. One of my sponsors, Meghan Thiem , lives down there and lets me stay, so I’m thankful for that and it’s an awesome opportunity.” Peyton also went to Florida two years ago to compete in some of the bigger barrel races, such as Jeff Robinson’s No Bull Barrel Races. “I placed in the top five in Florida, and some barrel races in Tennessee. At the big barrel races, I’m pretty consistent at being in the top five. Like Tiany Schuster said, ‘I don’t win. I place.’ and it all adds up in the end.”
Along with Rocko, Peyton rides Judge Firewater “Fireball” and Little Bitty. “Fireball is just amazing. All of the rodeo season the year before last we were dealing on and off with injuries, so she had a year off, and last summer we finally got where we needed to be. Little Bitty is a little firecracker, and very unforgiving, so it’s hit or miss with her,” Peyton describes with a laugh. “We have our own barrel horse breeding program, and we breed really high-class barrel horses that will hopefully get me down the road once I turn 18 and I’m able to pull my card. We have our top 15 that we’re really happy with, and we’re going into the futurity and derby process. We have really solid, good-minded mares we’re breeding to high-class studs: Frenchmans Guy, Streak Of Fling, Darkelly, and Dash Ta Fame.”
A sophomore, Peyton does her school through Monte Vista Online Academy so she has more flexibility to travel. “I’m a total science nerd. I love chemistry, and my dad owns a chemical business, so I love learning about the chemicals.” Peyton also enjoys going on vacations and spending time with her parents, Sean and Cydney, and her brothers, Wyatt (14) and Colin (19). Colin rode bulls in junior high, which first inspired Peyton to rodeo, and Wyatt travels with her to rodeos and works on his rodeo photography.
“I would really like to qualify for Nationals this year, and I feel like I can,” Peyton finishes. “I’m definitely confident in how my horses are working. This will be my first year going to Gallup and Shawnee, so it will be fun to experience that. There’s bigger goals like qualifying for The American, but my main goal is making it to Nationals.”
