story by Lindsay Humphrey
Thirteen-year-old Kaxton Kolb has never been afraid to put a young horse through the paces. This is evident in the ages of his current rodeo mounts and his extensive experience with young colts, big and small. “I started helping my dad (Tyson) with the 2-year-olds when I was probably 7,” said the seventh grader from Cherokee, Oklahoma. “Dad would get them going and I’d use them all summer checking pastures on a calf operation.” Kaxton started riding outside colts just last year, but he started a lot of ponies when he was younger. “I like the challenge of starting colts and getting to ride different horses. I like making sure they’re safe for people who are going to start riding and for their young kids.”
His main mount, Dagger, is only 9 years old, which is relatively young for a horse that excels at multiple events. “He gives me the shot every time. My dad started roping on him as a 3-year-old and then we started rodeoing on him 5 years ago. I team rope, breakaway and steer stop on him, but I can tie down on him if I need to also.” Five-year-old Decatur is Kaxton’s goat horse, but he plans to start using him for breakaway roping also. He’s the newest addition to his rodeo string. In the OKJHSRA, Kaxton heads for Hazen Suit and ropes in the ribbons for Merrick Moyer. He also competes in the chute dogging, but that’s mostly for fun while in junior high. Kaxton enjoys the team aspect of rodeo, which is why roping with Hazen is his favorite event. “I like getting to rope with other people. I’ve been doing it probably the longest and I have the most fun in it.”
Both of his parents, Tyson and Krystal, grew up in rodeo and have passed it down to all of Kaxton’s siblings – Kynlee, 17, Kessler, 6, and 5-year-old Krayce. “I’ve been rodeoing since I was probably 3. I started by riding a lot of horses and helping my family check cattle in the pasture. I remember having a lot of fun at my first rodeo just riding horses and spending time with my friends and family.” Blessed with a big family that all enjoy rodeo, Kaxton spends a lot of time in the practice pen and on the rodeo trail with his siblings. Both of his sisters rodeo currently, and his little brother will start this summer. “It’s been super fun spending time with my family and helping my little siblings learn how to do it too.”
Now in his second year of homeschooling with Epic Charter Schools, Kaxton spends even more time with his family than he did two years ago. “I used to play a lot of sports in school and never had a lot of time afterward to practice. I wanted to dedicate my time to rodeo, so I asked to be homeschooled.” Kaxton has loved being at home and the chance to work ahead on the weeks he knows he has a rodeo coming up. His favorite subject is math because it’s a big part of everything he does each day, from roping to counting cows in the pasture. Kaxton has a lot of goals for the current rodeo season. One of them is another shot at nationals.
“Last year I went in the team roping and we drew two steers that were horrible. The first one came out of the box and stopped, then tried to go into the heel box. After I finally roped and turned him, he started dragging. Our second steer wasn’t much better.” With redemption on his mind, Kaxton takes each rodeo seriously but doesn’t forget to have fun. “I have a lot of friends in the association [OKJHSRA] and I like getting to hang out with them. It’s a great association, they’re always fair and stick by the rules so they can do what’s best for the kids, and they have good livestock.”
