story by Lily Weinacht
Olivia Cullen of Yuma, Colorado, is embarking on her second season in the CJHSRA, and currently sitting second in the goat tying and the top ten in barrel racing and breakaway roping. The 12-year-old also competes in pole bending, and enjoys all of her events equally. “I like going fast. And in the roping, when you catch, it makes it super fun,” she explains. “I started gymkhanas when I was 5 and rodeos when I was 8. Rodeo is fun for me, and it’s just something that I want to do.”
Rodeo runs deep in Olivia’s family, particularly with her parents, Brian and TJ Cullen, who both rodeoed. TJ competed in breakaway and barrel racing. Brian, who has coached college rodeo for the last 15 years, is the head rodeo coach at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. “My parents help me a lot, and somebody else that helps me is Taya McAdow, who helps me with the breakaway, and Shelby Winchell helps me with my goat tying. I practice roping and goat tying almost every day. Most of the time we tie off the ground, and every once in a while we tie off the horse. We have a roping dummy and calves, and my parents run those for me,” says Olivia. Her 7-year-old sister, Grace, enjoys riding with her, but Olivia is carrying on the rodeo tradition in the family.
She and her family make their home several miles outside of Yuma, where Olivia enjoys having plenty of space to practice and ride her horses. She ties goats off of Sophia and runs poles on Thelma, while she breakaway ropes and runs barrels on Tivolee. “Sophie is super nice, and in the goat tying, she’ll just slow down when you want to get off. Thelma knows what she needs to do—I just keep her exercised. Sophie and Thelma both came from the Segelkes and are super smart. In the breakaway, when I’m struggling with it, Tivolee helps me figure out what I need to do.” The Cullen’s dog, Freckles, also travels to rodeos with them on occasion, and Olivia uses the time in the truck to do homework. She also enjoys playing games like auto bingo, or reading and watching movies.
An eighth-grader at Yuma Middle School, Olivia likes her math and science classes. “In math, we’re solving equations with variables, and in science, we’re studying the solar system. Normally when I get home from school, I do my homework and then I’ll go out to practice.” She and her family spent much of their summer traveling to rodeos and working at her grandma’s (Joyce Sheridan) feed store (JDs Barn), and Olivia particularly enjoyed the CJHSRA and CJRA finals. She finished fifth in the pole bending and sixth in the goat tying and barrel racing at the CJRA finals. “When we’re home, I like hanging out and doing things around the house, and I like to read fictional books. My goals for rodeo are to improve in my events so I can get better.”
