story by Julie Carter
She’s a small, determined package of rodeo passion that wears her confidence quietly both in and out of the arena. The San Lorenzo, NM 8th grader, Clair Biebelle, can back it all up with results that consistently put her at the top of the leaderboard.
Clair has won 10 All-Around saddles in a variety of junior rodeo competitions, but three of those came from her efforts in the New Mexico Junior High Rodeo Association (NMJHRA). Her rodeo work ethic was already in place when she came on to the junior high rodeo scene and her momentum hasn’t lessened despite some setbacks.
After her 6th grade year, her twice-named Top Horse barrel and pole mare, Dixie, tore a tendon, putting her out of commission for a year. Biebelles were able to locate a ready to haul barrel and pole horse in Colorado trained by Kamryn Adent. Marty, a 12–13-year-old mare came home with them, and Clair never missed a beat.
“Marty has always run really good for me,” said Clair. “She can be a little crazy sometimes, but she’s really sweet.” For Goat Tying and Breakaway, Clair rides Cupid, 19. Cupid was a $700 sale barn buy at 2, starting his career as a ranch horse only to become an arena star for two little girls.
Clair says she likes Barrels and Poles equally followed by goat tying and her least favorite Breakaway. Kyon Hatley is her roper for the Ribbon /roping. At press time, Clair was leading the NMJHRA standings in Barrels and Ribbon Roping, sitting 2nd in Poles and 5th in Goat Tying.
The daughter of Brandon and Shay Biebelle, Clair, 14, and her 11-year-old sister Amy live on the family ranch on the Mimbres River 30 miles east of Silver City. They ride the school bus 25 miles to a Baird, where Clair is a 4.0 student, naming Math and English as her favorites. She was voted Top Student at her middle school and received the Citizenship/Kindness award this year for being respectful and always doing what is right.
Brandon, a seasoned saddle bronc rider and team roper with a “few thousand rodeos” under his belt, believes Clair’s ability to keep her composure under any situation to be her best trait. “She just doesn’t pressure up. She goes and she makes her run, no matter what. I think that’s a big deal because that’s hard for anybody. If you’re rodeoing, at some point you’re going to pressure up and that’s something Clair very rarely ever does.”
Without much experience in girl’s rodeo events, Brandon said they have all learned a lot along the way from other people. “We’ll ask anybody that we think might know something we don’t. We’ve gotten lots of good advice from lots of people. That’s what we love about this sport. Everybody’s willing to help everybody.”
Clair has qualified for the Junior High National Finals in barrels and poles twice and plans to make a return trip to Georgia again this year, but she set her goal to include Goat Tying with her speed events.
“Clair knows what she wants and has a good sense of who she is,” said Shay. “She accepted Christ when she was 10 and was baptized. I always say she is a girl after God’s own heart. Her dad is possibly her best friend. She helps him on the ranch all that she can. She inherited her brand, Heart Slash, from her great grandpa. Rodeo is her passion and she works hard at it. Having her feisty sister Amy to challenge her has made her step up her game. I hope they always continue to make each other better.”
The Biebelle family as a whole are very grateful to be so blessed. They will tell you they do this for fun, but in the spirit of competition, they will also say, “winning is fun.”
