By Lily Weinacht
Katie Jolly, a cowgirl hailing from Deer Trail, Colo., won the barrel racing and all-around cowgirl titles during the 2015 NSRA finals. The 26-year-old barrel racer and breakaway roper comes from a family with an expansive background in rodeo that goes back four generations, while the Jolly family has been ranching for five generations in the Centennial State.
Katie was confident she could win the all-around if she had a decent NSRA finals, but was less sure about the barrels. Even though her horse stumbled on a few runs, they still placed first, while finishing 13th in the breakaway roping. She also competes in the KPRA and did a clean sweep of her events during the association’s finals, winning the barrel racing, breakaway roping, and all-around year-end titles. “I had an unbelievable year this year!” says Katie, who competed in her first junior barrel race in Deer Trail when she was three. “I get to compete on my horses that my family has trained, and it’s just a rush. Rodeo is my passion!”
Along with competing in the NSRA and KPRA, Katie filled her permit with the WPRA two years ago and hopes to compete more extensively next summer in the Mountain States Circuit, while still defending her titles with her other associations. Katie also holds several titles with the NIRA from college rodeoing for Dodge City Community College and Oklahoma Pandhandle State University. “I won the Central Plains Region in breakaway my freshman year, and then reserve champion my sophomore and senior year,” says Katie. Her mom, who roped and ran barrels during college, is one of Katie’s greatest role models. “She starts a lot of our horses at the house – she’s really good,” Katie explains. “Another person I look up to is Laura Lambert. She rides well, has nice horses, and is always humble and friendly.”
Katie lives close to her family on her small ranch near Deer Trail, where she runs her horses and 50 cow/calf pairs. Her main barrel and breakaway horse, Teddy, is 14, but she’s been riding the gelding since he was three. Teddy took her to the CNFR all three years and he was voted 2015 Barrel Horse of the Year in both the NSRA and KPRA. Katie currently shares him with her sister, Cara, who is college rodeoing. Katie is seasoning several younger horses, roping in jackpots and barrel racing, and she also takes them to the sale barn where she works cattle. “I work for a vet clinic – Cattleman’s Resource, Inc. – and they also work with the sale barn,” Katie explains. “We process calves all fall and preg-check cows, plus I help brand cattle for the buyers.”
When she’s not at the sale barn, Katie can be found on her parents’ ranch, where they run 400 head of cow/calf pairs and 30 head of horses, made up of broodmares and yearlings. “When all of us kids were at home, we’d each raise a colt every year and make our own ranch and rodeo horses,” says Katie. Her older sister, Jenna, married to Weston Rains, continues to rope in jackpots, while their brother, Tyler, and his wife, Brittany, also rope in jackpots. “Tyler and Brittany have two kids, JW (three), and Maverik (ten months). JW and I like to be with the cattle and horses, or go ride the miniature train in Byers,” says Katie.
As for her rodeo future, Katie says, “I want to finish my younger horses, and I’d also like to see my cow herd grow so I can buy a bigger place. If I have the horses and the opportunity, I’d like to make a run at the NFR someday, but I’m pretty happy with what I’m doing right now!”
