Meet the Member – Shelby Fullmer

By Lily Weinacht

“I’ve been on a horse ever since I can remember,” says 16 year old Shelby Fullmer. “I started doing high school rodeo when I was in eighth grade, and I love it! Rodeo is always a passion I’ve had – I’ve played other sports, but I put those aside for rodeo. It’s what I want to do later in life, and I don’t think I’d ever give up very easily on it!” Shelby, a native of Monticello, Utah, drives for an hour across the state line to Cortez, Colo., to practice with the CSHSRA team and rodeo. She competes in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, and breakaway roping, with goat tying landing first on her list of favorite and strongest events. She also held several local rodeo royalty titles when she was growing up.
Up until this year, Shelby had never had the coaching of official trainers, but relied instead on the coaching from her mom, Melissa Fullmer, and family friend Shaun Woods. “Shaun is a big help to me, working with me and my horses for free, and I really appreciate her,” says Shelby. “MML Properties is also playing a huge role in helping my dreams come true, and I’d also like to thank my mom – she’s always trusted me and put me where I need to be.” In February, Shelby went to Arizona and attended Crystal Logan’s pole bending clinic, and in March, she went to Troy Pruitt’s breakaway roping clinic in Limon, Colo. “I loved the clinics, and I learned a lot from both of them,” explains Shelby, who is further looking forward to Buck Brannaman’s horsemanship clinic in August. “We’re never above or too big for horsemanship!” Melissa Fullmer adds.
The Fullmer family, along with their dogs, Bo and Coco, and Shelby’s horses, Tula, Tootsie Roll, and Honey, make their home 14 miles east of Monticello. Shelby and her siblings, Kylee, Wyatt, and Thomas, are the third generation of Fullmers to live on the family farm. They grow organic wheat, running more than 9,000 acres. Shelby helps her dad, Kyle Fullmer, with the tractor work and wheat harvest, while also keeping up with her horses. She is still training Tula for rodeo, and currently competes on Honey in the goat tying and breakaway roping, and Tootsie Roll in the barrels and poles. While the Fullmers don’t keep roping cattle, Shelby ropes with friends or uses the dummy, teaching herself. “Ever since she hit the ground, Shelby has had a connection with horses,” says Melissa. “She has a passion for horses and the outdoors.”
Shelby is also passionate about school, where she will be a junior at Dove Creek High School this fall. She was her class president in eighth grade, and she plays varsity volleyball and basketball, while she fully intends to go to college and pursue college rodeo. In the meantime, she also enjoys hunting elk and mule deer with her family, and spending every other moment with her horses. At her local Dolores County Rodeo, Shelby won the barrels, poles, goat tying, and all-around titles back to back in 2013 and 2014, while placing reserve all-around champion in 2012. Her next goal is to train a colt. “I believe if you train your own horse, it makes it easier to compete, and you have that connection,” she says. Following high school, Shelby plans to pursue horse training further in college, while also climbing toward her dream of qualifying for the WNFR. “I’ve put a lot aside for rodeo, and I really hope I can go as far in it as I dream of!”

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