M-SRA member, Becky Ortmeier – JJJ Photo
story by Terry Rhodes
From her earliest memories Becky Ortmeier remembers being on a horse. “I can remember being put on a horse when I was really little. And I was hooked from then on, they couldn’t keep me off of horses.” She credits her father, Robert John, as being the person in her life that helped her make that connection with horses that is still there today. “My dad was the biggest influence in my getting started. He used to rodeo; he was a tie-down roper. I can remember going to rodeos and watching the barrel racers and wanting to do that. I did some 4-H and then started to rodeo a little in high school. I would go to some of the close by Mid-States rodeos, and that got me to where I wanted to go more.”
She first started entering Mid-States rodeos during her high school years and joined after graduation. “I used to run in the PRCA a little bit. It was too hard to travel with young kids so didn’t do too much there.” Becky enjoys competing in the association rodeos and appreciates that they are generally close to home and not a lot of travel or overnight stays are needed. “We live in Dodge, Neb., and so it’s a good area to go to the Mid-States rodeos. We go to about 35 rodeos a year.
For barrel horses Becky likes the Frosty Feature bred horses. “My good mare is Frosty Feature bred and she’s retired now so my daughter rides her. I made it to the Mid-States Finals several years with her. This year I’m starting another mare with similar breeding and she’s been coming along real well. She’s been doing pretty well at the jackpots so I hope that we’ll be hitting a lot more Mid-States rodeos next year. I like this line of horses because they are really good ‘people horses’ and they have good minds.”
Making that fast run takes some preparation and for Becky, she spends a little time visualizing the runs she wants to make. “I go over the run several times in my mind of how I want it to go. Sometimes conditions are not what you expect and you have to handle it differently; you can’t let those things get to you. I like to be by myself while I’m warning up my horse to clear my head.” She says that she doesn’t really consider herself to be competitive but adds, “Who doesn’t like to win? I am hard on myself when things don’t go right. Some people say I’m too hard on myself.”
Becky and her husband, Chad have two children, Samuel, 12, and Emerson, 10. “Chad is a dentist with a practice in Dodge and one in Clarkson. Samuel likes horses and Emerson has started running barrels on my retired mare so that’s a good fit for those two. Chad doesn’t work with the horses but he likes to go and he’s a big supporter.”
Leisure time is spent with the family doing some fishing. She enjoys doing crafts, sewing, and painting or drawing. Goals are to continue to rodeo and helping her kids with graduating and going to college.
