story by Riata Cummings
Kylee Noble is from Cove, Utah, a small northern town with loads of open farmland. Kylee graduated early from Mountain Crest High School and is currently taking a Certified Nursing Assistant course. This fall she will attend Snow College where she will earn her associate degree before attending Dixie State University as part of their nursing program. Kylee is the second of four girls, and her sisters are Bailee, Hadlee, and Avree. She is the daughter of Mindie Berntsen, Eddie Berntsen, and Keith Noble. Kylee enjoys going for mountain rides, playing volleyball, watching Hadlee’s softball games, attending her Avree’s cheer competitions, and going boating in the summer with her family.
Kylee has been around horses and the rodeo industry since she was very young. She started rodeoing when she was 8, competing in various Jr rodeos and in the National Little Britches Rodeo Association. She eventually moved up through the ranks of Junior High rodeo and is now in her final year as a member of the Utah High School Rodeo Association. She competes in goat tying, breakaway roping, barrel racing, pole bending, and reined cow horse. Kylee’s favorite event is the one she has been doing the longest—breakaway roping. She uses a horse named Snappy for roping, and he doubles as a goat tying horse. Kylee’s pole bending and barrel racing horse is Kenny, a 13-year-old gelding who is easy-going but powerful. Her reining horse is Pistol, an 8-year-old gelding who has a little frame but a larger-than-life attitude. Kylee tries to ride her horses every day, as well as goat tying three times a week and roping the dummy religiously. She has qualified for the state finals every year of her high school career, and this year she hopes to go to the Silver State International Rodeo in the breakaway roping and goat tying so that she can end on a good note.
Rodeo has taught Kylee that life is a constant series of ups and downs but, “You can’t let it affect your attitude or your perspective. There are so many things that can go wrong, no matter how much you practice. You prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and recognize the good in every run.” Kylee lives by the saying, “You can always practice more,” and knows that practice is the key to success in the world of rodeo. Rodeo has helped her develop one of her greatest strengths — positivity. She strives to let go of the negative and focus on the good things in life. “Life is too short to be negative.” She would advise rodeo rookies to, “never dwell on the bad runs. Focus on the experience and find a positive mindset because there is always another rodeo and the standings don’t matter as much as your happiness.”
Kylee’s hero is her mother, who has never missed a rodeo. She is grateful for her mom’s efforts to make sure is always ready to compete and has what she needs to be successful. Kylee would like to thank her grandparents, Blain and Lara Hansen, as well as her older sister Bailee. Finally, she would like to thank the secretaries that make rodeo possible and the Utah High School Rodeo Association for their dedication to the sport and the athletes.
