story by Ruth Nicolaus
Kase Bacque is the 2015 Louisiana Junior High School Tie-down Roping champion.
The fourteen year old cowboy, who also ribbon ropes, team ropes, and chute dogs, lives near Opelousas, La. and has two roping horses. His tie-down horse is an eighteen year old bay named Squirt, and his head horse is a sixteen year old bay named Zeus. Squirt is his favorite, because of “his attitude and the way he moves and acts. He’s real calm, and he’ll give one hundred percent every time I ask him to do something. He never blows up or gets aggravated.”
Kase is an eighth grade student who is homeschooled. He loves math class, but isn’t crazy about reading. Some of his classes are taught by his mom and some are done online.
He admires Jeff Chapman, Trevor Brazile and Junior Nogueira. His dad, Ken Bacque, passed away when Kase was four years old. Ken qualified for the 1992 National Finals Rodeo in the tie-down roping, and Kase loves to watch videos of him roping. Kase has learned a lot about roping from his big brother, Karter. “Everything he’s learned, he learned from Karter,” his mom said. “Karter has been like a dad to him.” Together, Kase and Karter take care of the cattle the family runs.
He has qualified for state his sixth and seventh grade years and went to the National Junior High Finals in the tie-down and chute dogging in 2015.
When he grows up, he’d like to be a PRCA tie-down roper, qualify for the National Finals Rodeo, and be a duck hunting guide and outfitter. He enjoys shooting events and competes at sporting clay shoots.
In addition to Karter, he has an older sister, Lindsey, who is a junior at Baylor. He is the son of Chiara and the late Ken Bacque.
