story by Lindsay King
“I did not come from a rodeo family. I worked every weekend at a café so I could take out a loan and buy my first horse for high school rodeo,” said Keva Lindquist. The Burke, South Dakota, barrel racer bought the horse just a month before her freshman season of high school rodeo began. Only a year later, she sold her calves to pay off the horse and then sold him for a profit. “I bought my current horse Ned from Dori Hollenbeck. He only had 30 days of barrel training on him then and was not a pole horse at all.” Two tough years of heartbreak led Keva and Ned to state 4-H in the barrels both her junior and senior year. She then won poles at her hometown high school rodeo her senior year. “I have always wanted to be a barrel racer. When I got adopted my sophomore year my adoptive mom was running barrels. I always saw her running fast on her black horse and I wanted to do it too. I love the adrenaline rush. When everything clicks, it is the best feeling in the world.”
After a semester at Panhandle State University, Keva realized how important her family is to her. She went back to South Dakota for calving season and to work for the Burke Livestock Auction. She started studying criminal justice at Black Hills State University this fall. “Last spring I started training barrel horses and breaking colts. I also got a side job as a loper on the weekends for a cutting trainer. I rodeoed all summer long in the M-SRA and SDRA.” Though she took this year off from college rodeo, Keva intends to start back up in March for the 2019 season. She keeps herself busy with school of course, but also does a lot of cowboying for her family and other ranchers in the area. Everything Keva has was bought with sweat equity fueled by her incessant passion for the sport of rodeo. “For graduation I bought myself a horse trailer to go down to Oklahoma. That was also from working at the café and selling more calves.”
Keva recognizes she would never be where she is today without help from her adoptive parents Ben and Sky Stukel. “My mom has always pushed me to do better and to never give up. When things get tough she always reminds me that there is light at the end of the tunnel.” Strong faith and the drive to continue moving forward when things get tough are traits Keva shares and admires in Sherry Cervi and Brittany Diaz, her rodeo role models. As well as their willingness to help anyone and everyone. This never give-up attitude led Keva to her proudest moment at the Getty’s Rodeo Stampede. “On a Monday, my horse bucked me off and the next day he flipped over on me. On Wednesday he reared up on me. We had a rodeo that Thursday through Saturday and were only a few slots out of the money. That was a pretty big accomplishment in my book.”
In the 2019 season, Keva will start her third year in the M-SRA. She is working hard so this will be the year she makes a trip to the finals. “I like the atmosphere and that I can go down into Nebraska but also stay in South Dakota. I also get to rodeo with my friends so I have traveling partners and see others out on the road.” Her goal is to get her PRCA permit within the next three years and make the circuit finals on Ned. “I also have a Streak of Fling grandson that I am looking forward to start running soon.” Though Keva is content when she simply keeps progressing with her horse on each run, she has her sights set on running in the Thomas and Mack.
