story by Kyle Eustice
Born in Saint George, Utah, Saige Judd moved to Fredonia, Arizona, when she was very young. Along with her parents, Cody and Britney Judd, and sister Devann, 23, Saige has been around horses her entire life.
“My mom used to rodeo when she was younger,” said Saige. “She was a barrel racer and still goes to local jackpots. My dad also lived on a ranch his whole life.”
Although she lives in Arizona, Saige says the rodeos in Utah are actually closer. In 2012, she started doing Little Britches rodeos and joined the UHSRA when she was a freshman at Fredonia High School. As she enters her senior year, she couldn’t be more excited about the future.
“I want to go to college and get a degree in business,” said Saige. “My dad owns a construction business, Cody Judd Construction. He’s a general contractor for model and custom homes. I want to be able to help him one day.”
Until then, Saige is focused on rodeo, her main passion. Currently, her favorite events are breakaway and team roping, although she also does barrel racing, goat tying, and pole bending. She loves every minute of it.
“Keeping a 4.0 in high school while competing in rodeo is what I’m most proud of,” said Saige. “It’s hard to keep up with classes because I’m gone so much and I’m taking college classes at the same time.”
Saige gets a lot of help with barrel racing from her mom, who knows the event inside and out. Her grandparents are also important influences. Her grandfather, Deon Mecham, 70, made it to the 1964 NHSRA Finals in calf roping while her grandmother, Dixie Mecham, made it to the 1969 NHSRA Finals in barrel racing and pole bending.
“My grandpa still does jackpot team roping.”
Saige thoroughly enjoys the level of competition in the UHSRA. “The Utah contestants are really tough,” said Saige. “It makes them that much harder and fun to compete with. It’s more fun and more of a challenge.”
Saige is gone almost every weekend at different rodeo events. During the summer and into the school year, she still manages to ride at least three horses each night until November. Once rodeo events die down, she focuses on school work and role as the captain of the varsity basketball team, where she’s the high point scorer of every game. Her parents couldn’t be more impressed.
“They make me work, but they are really proud of me,” said Saige. “I’ve been taught to have good morals, and respect and gratitude for what I have every day.”
Her dream is to one day make it to the NFR. In the short term. “I want it to be on a horse I trained myself.”
Saige has three colts going right now. All of the horses she has competed on have been trained by her family. Taking care of her horses, three dogs, one cat, and four kittens has taught her a lot about responsibility, but she’s learned the most from rodeo.
“I love going to see my rodeo family and competing with toughest rodeo kids in the nation,” said Saige. “A lot of kids don’t understand what it does for us. It gives me something to push myself to be better, further my career, and establish great work ethic, respect and responsibility.”
