Kaylee Scales is going into the 2014 rodeo season already qualified for the NLBFR in her three events. The 13-year-old from Blanchard, Okla. went to nationals last year for the first time and made the Top Hand Team. “I don’t know what I’d do without it (rodeo),” says Kaylee. “It’s become not only a hobby, but my life. It’s my favorite of all the sports I do, and it’s a family event. I love competing with my animals and I meet all of these different people that I become friends with. It’s a really great thing!”
Kaylee competes in barrel racing, pole bending, and goat tying. Her dream is to barrel race at the WNFR someday, as it is her favorite event and the one she competes best in. Kaylee describes the horses that she competes on. “I run barrels on Boogie – he’s 13 years old. I love to compete on him. He’s very powerful coming off the barrels and we fit together like a hand in a glove. My pole horse is Annie. She’s 23 this year and I got her when I was seven. She’s my absolute favorite! Apache does everything, and she’s also my brother’s roping horse. She’s 17 and we nominated her for Purina Super Horse of the Finals last year in the NLBRA.”
The Scales family makes their home in the country outside of Blanchard. In addition to their horses, they also keep roping calves on their 20 acres. Kaylee and her 12-year-old brother Tanner often practice together in their arena. Their parents are Rick and Shelly Scales. Tanner also competes in the NLBRA, and he too will be competing at the NLBFR for the second time this summer. Along with their horses, the Scales never go to a rodeo without their two dogs, Izzy and Roper.
Kaylee is a seventh grader at Amber-Pocasset High School. Her favorite subject is reading, and from 2011-2013 she was chosen as one of Grady County’s Top Readers. The award is given based on the number of books read and the reading level. Kaylee loves to read mysteries, and she also enjoys books by her favorite author Meg Cabot.
Kaylee runs cross-country and track, and in addition to her involvement with student council, she is serving as the AM-PO class secretary. She also stays busy with showing pigs in 4-H, which she has been doing for the last nine years. In her free time, Kaylee can be found engrossed in a book or out playing with her horses in the pasture. If she had a day to spend however she wanted, Kaylee says, “I would spend it outside practicing with my horses, trying to get better for the next rodeo.”
Goals that Kaylee has set for herself include winning a barrel racing national championship at the NLBFR this summer. She also hopes to college rodeo after high school and study to be a teacher. Several of her rodeo achievements in 2013 include first runner up for princess in the 2013 NLBRA royalty contest, she also was the all-around, junior girls, barrel racing, goat tying , and ribbon runner champion in the Oklahoma-North Texas Little Britches Rodeo Association. Kaylee and her family have helped to start the Central Oklahoma franchise of Little Britches, with Kaylee’s dad serving as the vice-president.
Kaylee never goes to a rodeo without her family, grandparents, and her aunt and uncle. She looks to her parents as role models and she says, “My parents commit time out of their busy schedules to haul us up and down the road. I’m very blessed to have my family and God with me whenever I go rodeo.”
Noble Outfitters recognizes youth accomplishments and supports programs like NLBRA. Kaylee will receive a Hands Duffle!
Learn more at nobleoutfiters.com
