above: KJRA member, Shylar Whiting
– SportsPix
story by Lily Weinacht
Shylar Whiting has been competing in rodeo longer than any other sport. While the eight year old from Paola, Kan., enjoys basketball and soccer, rodeoing with her horses is what she loves best. It is also the sport that her two older sisters, Shelby (19), and Shay (16), have been successful in, and have likewise passed their knowledge of rodeo down to Shylar. “Shylar idolizes both her older sisters,” says the sisters’ mom, Shelly, who is an accountant for Compass Minerals, as well as the rodeo secretary for the KJRA. “Shay is a freshman in high school and Shelby is a freshman in college, and Shylar wants to follow in their footsteps and do everything they do! They give her lots of helpful coaching.” Shelly and her husband, Wayne, were the first of their families to compete in NHSRA and NLBRA rodeo.
Shylar is currently competing in the KJRA in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, and breakaway roping. Goat tying is Shylar’s favorite event, as she likes to practice flanking and tying goats with her sisters. She also competes in the NLBRA in barrel racing and pole bending. “I just like riding my horses!” says Shylar. “The events are fun to do, and trying my best.” Some of the KJRA year-end awards that Shylar has won include a headstall for the barrel racing, a halter for the pole bending, and a rope can for reserve all-around.
The Whiting family’s home outside of Paola is a bustling place, with animals aplenty to care for. Shylar is in charge of caring for her two horses, Casey and Hotrod. Casey, a 14-year-old mare, is Shylar’s breakaway and goat tying horse that she shares with her sister Shay, originally passed down to them by Shelby. Hotrod is Shylar’s faithful 24-year-old mount in the barrel racing and pole bending. Other animals include dogs, cats, and roping calves and goats, which Shylar practices on four times a week. Once her sister, Shelby, returns from school at Garden City CommCollege, where she is working toward her degree as an occupational therapist, all three sisters will be practicing together like old times.
In the meantime, Shylar is finishing second grade at Louisburg Elementary School. Her favorite class for the year has been music, and she and her classmates are putting on a musical about nursery rhymes for an end of the school year project. She also plays basketball with her school, and is excitedly awaiting this fall when her dad, who is the elementary P.E. director for the Louisburg School District, will be her P.E. teacher for upper elementary. Wayne is also the one of the roping directors for the KJRA this year, and the National Director for the Kansas High School Rodeo Association.
Outside of school, Shylar spends her time with family and friends, riding horses, listening to music, or watching one of her favorite TV shows, Modern Family. She is an avid fan of Miranda Lambert, and would love to spend a day singing with the country artist. If Shylar and her parents and sisters aren’t riding or practicing together, they enjoy playing cards or other games together. Their plans for the summer revolve around rodeo, and Shelly says, “It wears you out being gone every weekend, but it’s what we do as a family and we enjoy the time together.”
Shylar’s goals for the KJRA rodeo season include improving her competition in breakaway roping, barrel racing, and pole bending. She would also like to improve her soccer playing skills, but knows for sure that her future is in rodeo.
