story by Lily Weinacht
Little Wrangler World
Champion Flag Racer
Mollie Walley and her sisters are the first of their family to compete in rodeo. The 9-year-old from Leakesville, Mississippi, accomplished another first this summer when she was crowned the 2018 NLBRA Little Wrangler World Champion Flag Racer. “This was my second time going to the finals, and I was surprised, because I came up there twelfth in the flags and ran first place and second place in them, but I didn’t win the short go,” Mollie explains. “I found out I won when they were giving out the awards. I’ve been thinking about building a buckle board and putting my buckles in there, and we’re going to build a saddle rack for my saddle.” Mollie also competed at the finals in pole bending and barrel racing, and enjoyed playing with her friends in between performances. “We like to grill and cook, and I like pretty much everything my mama cooks.”
The youngest of three sisters, Mollie started riding five years ago and entered her first rodeo when she was six. Her oldest sister, Marci, competes in the senior girls division of Little Britches, and their sister Maggie competes in the junior girls. All three qualified for the NLBFR in 2018 and traveled to Oklahoma with their parents, Quentin and Jessi Walley. Mollie is now competing in the junior girls division in barrel racing and pole bending, and recently competed in the Mid-South Little Britches Junior Princess royalty contest. “Mama motivates us every time we practice, and Daddy pays attention in the clinics we go to and remembers everything,” says Mollie. “I think Miss Patti Jo Higdon’s clinic helped me a lot—she helped me with my barrels and learning about the pattern. I like barrels the best. I just like to go in, and it’s me and my horse against the barrels or poles, and we have to work on them.”
Mollie competed in all four Little Wrangler events on her 12-year-old gelding, Chester, and the duo is also practicing breakaway roping with help from friends. “We have a dummy to rope, and we try to ride three days a week. When Daddy’s off work, we start saddling.” The Walley family also has two pet dogs, Max, who stays at home, and La De Da, a corgi who travels with them to rodeos. They use their hunting dogs to hunt squirrels, and Mollie and her dad and sisters also enjoy deer and turkey hunting. “I’m just now getting old enough to shoot, and me and Daddy have been working on shooting.”
If she’s not outdoors with her animals, Mollie can be found at Leakesville Elementary. A fourth-grader, she enjoys math and her classes in the REACH Program. After school, she heads out to her horses, and she and her family find money runs to compete at in between Little Britches rodeos. She’s also participated in several Martha Josey clinics, and last season in the Mid-South Little Britches, Mollie had ten qualification in barrel racing and went into the NLBFR leading the world standings. “I want to go up to Oklahoma and win another saddle,” she finishes, “and this year, I want to win the barrel saddle.”
