story by Ruth Nicolaus
Anjie Powell is blessed and she knows it.
She has a wonderful family and a special horse.
The Idaho Cowboys Association member, who lives in Marsing, Idaho, is married to Ryan Powell and has two kids: a boy named Kreece, age twelve, and a girl, Lettie, who is seven.
She competes as a barrel racer on a roan mare named Reba.
Reba doesn’t have big-time barrel racing in her background, but the horse, whose registered name is Tyroans Sienna Wind, is all foundation, with Moon Deck and Doc Bar in her pedigree.
What makes Reba even more special is that Anjie’s mom, Yo Curtis, trained her.
Yo bought Reba as a four-year-old, after having seen Reba’s sire. Her dam was a mounted shooting horse. The previous owner had decided to turn her into a kid’s 4-H horse.
Anjie was “afoot,” with no barrel horse, so her mom suggested Anjie try her. She had some success with her, but “I didn’t know if I would be competitive,” she said, after coming back from time having a family.
She was; she qualified for the Northwest Pro Rodeo Association finals in 2019.
“It was cool,” Anjie said. “At my age, to make the NPRA finals, it was like I was doing something amazing.”
Reba has her quirks and Ryan claims Anjie spoils her, but Anjie is quick to reply that she can be spoiled, since she’s good at her job.
“She’s little but her heart is huge,” she said. She’s also laid back, enough to where Lettie can exercise her and keep her in shape. “She doesn’t get real excited when we go to run barrels. We just walk in.”
However, Reba does not like bulls. “She’s deathly afraid of them,” Anjie said. If bulls are being loaded when she makes her run, she’ll turn the third barrel and then she’s looking for the out gate. Anjie has worked with her to overcome her fear, following and pushing cows while branding.
Anjie began her rodeo career in junior and high school rodeos, following in her mom and dad’s footsteps. Her mom was a WPRA member; her dad, Dave Marts, who passed away when Anjje was ten, was a PRCA bull rider.
She attended Treasure Valley Community College on rodeo and volleyball scholarships and graduated with an associate’s degree.
She married Ryan in 2004. He is a PRCA team roper who has qualified for the Columbia River Circuit Finals eight times and also competes in the ICA, the NPRA, the Pro West Rodeo Association, and the World Series of Team Ropings.
Their kids are now following along in the sport. Kreece has won five saddles and Lettie won her first all-around saddle last year.
Anjie works in the personnel office at Vallivue School District in Caldwell. She doesn’t get the summers off, but during the summer they work four ten-hour days, so that frees her up to rodeo more.
When they have a free minute, they like to go fishing. Often, their vacations are rodeo oriented, which the kids enjoy.
Anjie has competed at the ICA finals three times, including last year. She qualified for the NPRA finals in 2019.
She loves where she’s at in life.
“My family is everything to me,” she said, “my husband, my kids, my mom. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them. And Reba is worth everything. She’s made so many of my goals and dreams come true.
“I’m truly, truly blessed, for sure.”
