story by Riata Cummings
Kaydence McKinney is a thirteen-year-old outgoing girl from Fairview, Utah. The small, closely knit town is a fun place to grow up, and Kaydence enjoys living in the supportive community. She just graduated from North Sanpete Middle School in Manti, Utah where she completed her eighth grade year. She especially enjoyed her history class and learning about the past.
Kaydence has two brothers, Hayden McKinney, 10, and state champion bull rider, Colton Humphries. She is the daughter of Alesa and the late Josh McKinney. When her mother remarried a Brad Fullmer, who owns a few horses, Kaydence began to ride. Her older brother started competing in rodeo and Kaydence wasn’t far behind. She now competes in barrel racing, pole bending, and goat tying. She also plans on starting breakaway this year as she moves from the Jr. High division to the High School division. She enjoys competing in the fast paced sport with all of its experiences. She is looking forward to the new competitors and the chance to rodeo more frequently.
Kaydence also competes in rodeo queen contests on a local level, and so far her favorite title was the Fairview Rodeo Queen. She had the opportunity to serve on in a royalty with her friends while representing a great sport and a great town.
Lately, Kaydence has been shifting between horses and she is proud of how far her new mounts have come. She rides three different horses, including her brother’s rope horse and her step dads younger horses. She is hoping to have them ready to compete in high school by this upcoming season. She has set a goal to make it to state and hopes to meet many new people along the way.
Kaydence feels that her parents are her biggest supporters, always willing to help her get to rodeos and pushing her to improve. Her mom, Alesa, is her hero and Kaydence admires her ability to make it through any challenge that comes her way. Her mother has taught her to be strong in the face of adversity. Someone who knows Kaydence would describe her as outgoing, reliable, and daring. She rolls with the punches and tries to keep a positive attitude. If Kaydence could advise a rodeo rookie, she would tell them that practice is important, bad runs are inevitable but to focus on the positives, and that there is only one place to go when you hit rock bottom. Kaydence lives by the saying, “Practice like you’ve never won, perform like you’ve never lost”. She knows that practice makes perfect and hard work will pay off in the long run. Her tenacious and determined attitude exemplify the spirit of rodeo athletes all around the world and one day her grit will bring her success.
