story by Lily Weinacht
“Once you start, you really can’t stop rodeoing because it’s so fun, and you get to hang out with all your great friends who love it too!” says 11-year-old Estie Mina Barngrover. Named after both her grandmothers, the cowgirl from Dodge City, Kan., is the first of her immediate family to enter a rodeo, starting her career at age six. She’s now entering her second season with the KJRA, competing in barrel racing, pole bending, and goat tying. “I like working with my horse in the poles – it’s cool weaving in and out – and I love the speed of barrel racing. I also love jumping off my horse to go tie the goat.” Estie Mina additionally enters the Harper County Youth Rodeos, Young Guns Youth Rodeo Series, and the NWOJR. Known for her enthusiasm for the rodeo lifestyle, Estie Mina is also recognizable in the arena by her long hair, which comes below the pockets of her jeans. She wears it in cornrows to rodeo, taking her mom, Ansel Barngrover, three to four hours to braid.
She practices every chance she has at the family farm, joined by her mom, who helps Estie Mina keep her horses in shape. “We’ll go riding in the pasture, or a field nearby, and give them a change of scenery,” Estie Mina explains. Jesse James, her barrel horse, has been in the family since Estie Mina was a baby, while she rides her mom’s horse, Skee, in the goat tying. In addition to coaching from her mom, Estie Mina is inspired by several friends and family. “I look up to the Kirby family – they live close by and we practice together, and Jericka is one of my mom’s close friends who helps me practice.”
Estie Mina and her mom make their home in Dodge City near the golf course, where both mother and daughter spend time on the green if they’re not with their horses. “We have eight horses all together, four dogs, a goat, two barn cats, three rabbits, and ten turtles,” Estie Mina describes. “I show two of the rabbits in 4-H, and the other is a wild cottontail I raised from a baby that I’ll let go. Our turtles live in a big tractor tire filled with sand – we find them by the road, plus we have some water turtles that bury themselves in the winter and came up in the summer. I use them in 4-H for the turtle races.”
When she’s not looking after her menagerie, Estie Mina is finishing fifth grade at Cimarron Elementary. “Math is my favorite subject – we’ve been working on how to multiply and divide fractions and decimals,” says Estie Mina. She’s looking forward to playing basketball on a summer league, while she also takes tap, ballet, and jazz dance classes on Wednesdays and guitar lessons on Tuesdays. “I play guitar with my teacher, Ron Cole. We usually do folk songs, but I like to play all kinds of music, and I play some piano.” Her summer will be rounded out by 4-H, where Estie Mina competes in the speed events, and she plans to show her rabbits and work on projects in baking and crops. “We have two horses I’m training that I’ll work with more this summer,” she adds. “Their bloodlines are half barrel horse half race horse.”
Estie Mina never leaves for a rodeo without her lucky bear, Frank, made by her mom and monogrammed with Estie Mina’s name. “He goes on all my trips with me,” she explains. “I’d like to college rodeo, and my goal this year is to get my times down, beat my personal best, and come home with a paycheck every time!”
