story by Lindsay Humphrey
By the time Tayla Moeykens was three years old, she was walking the clover leaf pattern by herself. She’s been amping up the speed ever since. Hailing from Three Forks, Montana, Tayla is a veteran of the Junior World Finals. “The first year (2017) I ran in Vegas, I used my mom’s old pro rodeo horse, Charger (Guys Cash or Charge). He was second in the first round, but then we tipped in the second round to be leading the average going into the short round,” said the 18-year-old. The next two years produced solid runs in all three rounds, but never quite clinched the title for Tayla and Charger.
Of course, 2020 was very different from Tayla’s previous three trips in several ways. The biggest difference? Venue. When the WNFR moved to Texas, the KKP team followed suit. “This year I ran my mare, Blue (Dash of Blue Sky), but she’s never seen a blind entry. We came down to Texas a couple weeks early so we could run in the Stockyard Championship Rodeos to make sure she knew what was going on.” Tayla’s parents, Rick and Deena, along with a whole slew of people back home, are the backbone of this barrel racer’s drive for success. “My family is a big part of everything I do, because they’re always right there helping and supporting me. I couldn’t do it without them.”
The pair made three runs in the senior barrels division for the Junior World Finals in December. The mare had only run in that set up maybe five times previously. “We showed her once and she had it. She’s really smart like that.” A bobble on the first barrel of round one left the duo tied for third. They made up for it by winning the second round and headed into the short go with confidence. “We just planned to make the best run possible. We were ecstatic about our run, but we had to wait until the end to see where we ended up. We were really proud of all three runs.” They’re time held through the bitter end and Tayla finally won the Junior World Finals, thanks to both Blue and Charger.
Old faithful–Charger–came in clutch for Tayla during the qualifier. Tayla ran both Blue and Charger at The Barrel of Gold qualifying event in Joliet, Montana, last August. “I actually tipped on Blue and qualified on Charger. The old man got me in.” At the time, Charger was 20 years old but turned 21 with the new year. He’s the freight train that just won’t quit when it comes to running barrels. Even though 15-year-old Blue is Tayla’s main mount, Charger is her rock-solid back up.
In her second semester of freshman year at Montana State University (MSU), Tayla competed in the Big Sky Region. She quickly found success in the barrels as she was sitting in second place in the region and ranked tenth nationally when the spring season began. She’s also a breakaway roper for the Bobcats, but that event hasn’t gone as planned just yet. Even though MSU is holding classes in person, Tayla is taking her spring semester online. “We usually come to Arizona for a month or so every winter to keep the horses running. This year I’m here specifically to prepare for the American Semifinals.”
Her big win in December qualified Tayla and Blue to run in the American Semifinals. But she’s no rookie when it comes to the race for AT&T Stadium either. “In 2016 I ran a horse called Tell and then in 2018 I ran on Charger. I made the top 30 both of those years, and in 2018 I was just out of making the top ten.” Tayla’s determined to make 2021 the year she finally runs in Arlington. It’s one of her big bucket list items, but she’s already making headway on that list. In February she ran a 16.95 on a standard pattern for the first time, which was on that list also. Tayla can’t recommend running in a KKP event enough to her peers. “Kelly and her team do such an amazing job. They’re preparing kids for the next level. I like how competitive it is because that’s what gets us ready to go.”
