Sissy Davie is starting her third and final year of competing in the NJHSRA. The 14-year-old from Plattsmouth, Neb. competes in barrel racing and pole bending. This summer, she additionally plans to start team roping and breakaway roping. “Barrel racing is my top pick,” said Sissy. “I think it’s because it is so popular and such an adrenaline rush. It’s awesome to go in there and run!” While Sissy pursues all of her events with enthusiasm, she also finds her motivation to stay dedicated to the sport from her role model, Mary Walker. Sissy says of the 2012 WPRA World Champion Barrel Racer, “With everything she’s worked through, if she can go through it and do her best, then I think I can do it, too.”
Sissy lives with her parents, Gary and Mary Davie, and her brother, Luke. They live in town, but keep their horses on their farmland, which is about five miles away from them. Sissy’s brother, Luke, is 17, and he competes in bull riding and saddle bronc riding, in addition to bull fighting. While Sissy’s older brothers, Dusty and James are not rodeo competitors, they gladly haul Sissy to rodeos when her parents can’t take her. Sissy’s two horses are Mama’s Little Jet and Watch My Hero – but they are better known as Slammer and Hero. While Sissy uses both horses for barrels and poles, Slammer especially excels in large pens and even on poor ground, while Hero does well in any setting. In addition to their nine horses, Sissy and her family also have several dogs and cats.
An eighth grader, Sissy studies from home with Iowa Connections Academy. This is the first year that she has done her school online and she loves the flexibility it gives her to ride her horses and practice. Her two favorite subjects are Algebra and Geography. “We travel a lot, so Geography is a part of my everyday life, and Algebra is part of my everyday life, too. When we’re at the auction house with our hay, you’ve got to know your math.” If she is not doing school, Sissy is often out working with her horses, either practicing for her events, or training her colt, _. She bought him two years ago and is starting him on barrels. Sissy hopes to start taking in colts to train for other people as well. She often spends her spare time with her horses, but she also enjoys going to her friends’ wrestling matches or soccer games.
As Sissy prepares for the upcoming rodeo season, she explained one of her training techniques. “If I’m riding Slammer or Hero, I’ll watch my run on video from the previous rodeo and see what I need to do (differently). It gets me ready to get my horse out and bring home my check.” Several of Sissy’s rodeo accomplishments include winning the NE09 Youth Championship in barrel racing two years in a row, as well as the Carson, Iowa Youth Championship in barrels in 2012, with reserve in that same event in 2013. Sissy has also been competing in the NBHA Youth World Championship since 2012, and she is additionally a member of the WPRA.
“My biggest goal, like any other barrel racer, is qualifying for the NFR and hopefully get a world title,” said Sissy. “I would like to win the Junior WPRA title (in barrel racing), and I’m pretty set on going to college rodeo once I get to college.” Sissy concluded, “I’d like to say thank you to Mary and Byron Walker for helping me in barrel racing, and my parents for always being there and supporting me.”
