story by Lindsay King
A state title in team roping quickly escalated into a reserve national championship for Kayden Little from Tatum, New Mexico, this past July. The Tatum High School senior and his partner Maddy Deerman placed in the top ten in the first two rounds and took third in the short go to earn the reserve national title. “Nationals was a completely different experience, there were people from not only different states but different countries and continents. I was surprised with how competitive some of them were. I did not realize anybody would travel around the world for high school rodeo,” said the 17-year-old. The son of Buddy and Christy and brother to Carson, 15, also took time to explore Wyoming, visiting Yellowstone National Park.
Though he will rodeo in Texas this year, he will miss his friends in the NMHSRA. “Since we live in the far southeast corner of the state, sometimes we would have to travel 12 hours for a rodeo. Since Texas rodeos in regions, the furthest I will have to go is three hours.” One of the hardest parts about rodeo for Kayden is driving such a long way only to make one or two runs. “It can be really hard when you have to wait a long time in between runs when you don’t do well. It is hard mentally to stay focused and prepared, especially on the road.”
Kayden credits Taylor Pediree with teaching him a lot of the fundamentals of roping and horsemanship. “He has helped me a lot with horses and turned a lot of steers for me on days when most people would not even go outside.” However, his parents are also big stakeholders in his success. “My dad roped when he was younger so he has helped me quite a bit. My mom is really supportive. She encourages me and works hard so I have the opportunity to get down the road.” A majority of the time, the entire family packs into the truck for a rodeo, including grandma Surrat. “It means a lot to me that they get to travel with and support me in rodeo.”
At just 12 years old, Kayden was given a young horse by a neighboring rancher when the Little family moved to Tatum. “I had to learn to break the horse and ride him. My dad helped me get started but it just took off from there and I wanted to get better and better. Everyday I just try to learn to rope better.” Looking up, or across really, to his friend Darrian Gonzalez who is in the same grade at the same school pushes Kayden to work hard every day. “He is really focused and determined, he works really hard. And everywhere we go he finds a way to win.”
This winning spirit was planted in Kayden in Ardmore, Oklahoma, almost exactly three years ago. His first big team roping far from home, the number three header saw guys barely older than him roping at a level he never even dreamed of. Meeting Clay Smith that day changed his whole mentality about team roping. “I was a little discouraged and he told me that I could let it get me down or work hard and come back next year.” Work harder he did, in 2017 Kayden came back to win the open and break the record for fastest time on five head of steers. “It was at this roping three years ago that I decided I wanted to work hard on my roping and get as good as I possibly could. My goal was to win that roping.”
With dreams of going to college in Texas, Kayden might set rodeo aside while getting his degree. “Rodeo will probably be on the back burner for a little bit so it does not control my life in college. I would like to go to school on academic scholarships as much as possible.” With plans to major in either business or architecture, Kayden will need all the focus he can muster for a successful college career. “I just want to thank the Lord for blessing me with lots of opportunities to do what I love and my family for supporting me. I have also gotten help from Classic Ropes, Truth Saddlery and Smarty.”
