story by Lindsay King
From the western pleasure and hunter jumper pen to the clover leaf pattern, Katie Paulsen from Whiting, Iowa, made the switch to rodeo and never looked back. “It was a hard transition from pleasure to rodeo, but I really did not like having to be clean all the time for showing. I still really like hunter under saddle horses though,” said the mom of three who essentially started riding horses long before she could walk. Her parents trained ranch horses, but also had a few teams of to drive. A variety of horses have passed through Katie’s life, but none as memorable as Sharkey. “My sons are steer wrestlers and we had a bull dogging horse that I would sometimes mount out to help get us down the road.” Though both Colten, 21, and Austin, 19, are bull doggers Katie’s third son, Kash, 12, is more of the sports fanatic.
“There was nothing better than when three of us pulled a check on a rodeo weekend. It’s been fun to rodeo with my kids. We all support each other.” Some weekends would start at a high school rodeo during the day and then a quick jaunt to an amateur rodeo only to turn back around and head to the first rodeo again. “Once you get on the high school rodeo train, you can’t take a weekend off.” This meant Katie’s rodeo career has taken a back seat for a spell, but she is gearing up to hit 2019 hard. “Last year was supposed to be a really good year, but then my horse, Big Bird, tried to cut his front foot off. I got to run some this fall though.” The 17-hand, 13-year-old gelding has the ability to take Katie to M-SRA finals, and it’s what she’s working towards.
“I got a new horse started and I have big hopes for him. He has big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively. I just want to make the M-SRA finals before I officially retire. The location is great, it’s ran really well and the payout is incredible.” Even though Katie is a native of Iowa through and through, she’s enjoyed her time in the M-SRA. However, her proudest rodeo moment was at the Moville, Iowa, IRA rodeo in 2014. “I had all my boys with me. They helped get Big Bird through the gate, who was firing on all cylinders, and he just decided to run that night. He works best in heavy ground, but he can also be a diva.” That same night, both Colten and Austin placed in their events. However, it’s her hometown rodeo that Katie looks forward to the most every year. “There is nothing better than being introduced at your hometown rodeo. Everyone hauls in and stays at my house and my horses are familiar with the dirt. I have never won it though.”
With so much time on the road, Katie needs a day job that allows flexibility for her rodeo schedule. She has always been a nurse, but for the last three years she worked for a gastrointestinal doctor. “A lot of diseases can be stopped, you can get new organs but you cannot get new intestines. We can change a lot of lives in this profession.” An on and off member of the M-SRA, it was not until Katie was gifted a membership that she started running consistently. “Dwight Doffin, a calf roper in the M-SRA, bought my membership as a Christmas gift. Charlie and Renee Kenny are my neighbors and have been big proponents of the M-SRA events. They have helped the boys and me out a lot with rodeo over the years.” `
