story by Ruth Nicolaus
Justin Rosentreader is in his final months as a Nebraska Junior High School Rodeo Association member.
The Broken Bow, Neb. cowboy competes in the chute dogging, team roping (heeling for James Morris), goat tying and breakaway roping.
For the team roping, goat tying and breakaway, he rides Thirsty, a dark bay gelding who was his sister’s high school rodeo pole horse. Before Thirsty, Justin rode Siervo, who the family had to put down in April. He used Siervo, who was his favorite, for all his events. The wo clicked. “We got along good,” he said.
An eighth grade graduate of Sumer-Eddyville Miller, he likes English class and reading. Reading is something he enjoys, with his favorite book being War Horse. His least favorite class is science.
In junior high, Justin played football and basketball, ran track, and was involved in FFA. He was on his school’s honor roll.
The best school lunches, in his opinion, are the walking tacos with Doritos. The best meal his mom makes is enchiladas, with beef or chicken, and he likes his with a little spicy kick.
For fun, he loves to hunt. He’s hunted deer, turkey, pheasants and dove but the biggest game he’s gotten was a black bear in Idaho a few years ago. When the bear lumbered up towards him and his dad, it got a little tense. But Justin dropped him, and the family had a lot of jerky to eat. According to Justin bear meat tastes a lot like deer meat. They did a full mount of the bear, and it wasn’t a small one: he stood 5’6” and weighed about 320 lbs. But his favorite game to eat is dove, seasoned and fried.
If he were given $1 million to spend, he’d buy a new horse trailer, get a good bulldogging horse, and give the rest to his parents. The trailer would be a 4-horse with a stud slant, couches and a counter (no table), a washer and dryer, and finished in wood. It would be the hang-out spot at junior high rodeos, complete with music and a fridge full of beef sticks, cheese, dill pickles, Dr. Pepper and water.
Justin has a pet dog, a corgi-blue heeler cross named Willow. The pup is about a year old. The family also has a Catahoula dog named Jango and a border collie named Dixie.
When he grows up, he would like to be a taxidermist.
His dad, Jake, enjoys his son. “He’s good help around the ranch, helping check calves and feeding. He’s always willing to learn new things, and he’s a hard worker who always tries his best.”
Justin has two sisters: Joscelyn, who is 20, and Ava, who is four, and three brothers: Jace, age 16, Barron, who is six, and Ian, age two.
He is the son of Jake and Jolene Rosentreader and Julie Kearney.
