Story by Hope Raley
Rocky Mountain Pro Rodeo Association has some of the best rodeo athletes competing at their rodeos and one of those talented athletes is 30-year-old Mckale Hadley from Plain City, Utah. Mckale hails from a long line of cowboys with rodeo going back many generations on both sides of her family. Both her parents, Sid and Wendy competed in rodeo. Mckale started competing in youth and junior rodeos at age seven. She climbed the ranks of high school, college, and pro rodeo, before dabbling in the aged events. After high school, Mckale branched out and started her own business of riding and training horses. When she isn’t on horseback, Mckale also works at Hill Air Force Base as a civilian and her job is coordination and sustainment of the warfighter, which is short for military and aircraft equipment.
2022 is the first year that Mckale bought her RMPRA card and her goal for the season was a simple one- have fun and enjoy the experience with her horse. She had heard many times over the years that the RMPRA was an association that really valued their members, so she figured it would be the perfect place to get her colt the experience he needed at the rodeos. Good ground, great association and very friendly members all made for an easy decision when it came to buying her RMPRA card. Going into the 2022 rodeo season, Mckale wanted to give her horse the experience he needed to become the rodeo horse she knew he could be, and she knew that RMPRA was the perfect place to start.
“My goal for this season was a simple one- get my horse accustomed to the rodeos and enjoy the experience with him.”
Hadley rides 7-year-old bay gelding Bellas Bag Of Bones “Bones”. He is by Utah’s very-own standout stallion The Goodbye Lane and out of GW Lily Belle by Society Road. What makes Hadley and Bones so successful is Bones fast-moving feet and their unmatched desire to run barrels.
“Bones has been a blast to train and ride,” explained Hadley, who bought the dam of Bones after high school. “Of course, just like every horse, we have had our challenges along the way, but I try to look at challenges as an opportunity to gain experience and get better.”
Mckale is engaged to Mitch Seitz- who is United States Air Force and had nothing to do with horses until she came into his life. She enjoys the atmosphere that encompasses the world of rodeo and the comradery among contestants. Mckale is currently sitting within the top ten in the ladies’ barrel racing in hopes of finishing out the 2022 rodeo season strong.
