story by Riata Cummings
Abbey Sadlier is the 18-year-old daughter of Debra and Kurt Sadlier from the wide open lands of McKinnon, Wyoming. She is the youngest of four, her siblings being Tara, Brittany, and Trevor. Trevor competed in rodeo before Abbey, bull riding when he was younger and roping when he got to high school. Abbey was only 8 years old when she entered her first rodeo, a junior show in Manila, Utah.
Abbey now attends Manila High School, where her favorite subjects include science and math. She is a member of the FBLA as well as the National FFA Organization, and has competed in the horse judging, agricultural business, and agricultural communication career development events. One of the hardest things she has had to do was compete in the public speaking events through the FFA, but with the help of her teacher she was able to step out of her comfort zone. Abbey hopes to attend Cochise College in Arizona, where Lynn Smith coaches goat tying. Because of her passion for science and animals, Abbey is considering studying to become a veterinarian.
Today, Abbey competes in the breakaway roping and goat tying, but she has a definite preference for the later. She ropes off of Dunny, a horse her brother used to use for tie down roping. Her goat tying horse, Flash, used to be a steer wrestling horse but now thoroughly enjoys his job getting Abbey to the peg. Abbey practices nearly every evening, and spends her days mentally preparing for rodeo runs.
She first knew she loved goat tying after finishing her seventh grade state finals rodeo, where the stars aligned and she had some of her best runs. One of Abbey’s proudest rodeo moments was when she tied her first seven second goat run that year. She still remembers the pride in her parents eyes and the feeling of elation coming out of the arena. Another one of her favorite runs was at the Heber high school rodeo on a particularly competitive day of goat tying. Typically a six second run would place first, but on that day Abbey’s six second run tied her for third. She was proud to have finished so well on such a tough day, competing with so many talented girls.
Rodeo has taught Abbey the value of hard work, because it was only after hours of practice and dedication that she started to find success. She knows that no amount of practice can eliminate bad runs and hard days, but if you pick yourself up and keep pushing you will find the success you crave. Abbey feels that her ability to compete against herself is what separates her from other rodeo contestants. This year she hopes to be able to continue challenging herself, beating her own times and staying focused.
Abbey’s hero is her dad, who is always there to pick her up after bad runs and hard days. Her father inspires her to be a better person and a better competitor, and reminds her that even the pros have bad runs sometimes. Abbey likes to remind herself to keep pushing forward. Sometimes we are tempted to look back or let our chin fall, but we won’t find success until we look up and move forward.
