Conway native, Lauren Weller has rodeo on the brain 24/7, in fact she jokes you’ll only ever find her home practicing or at the rodeo. Weller even belongs to three different rodeo associations: Missouri Family Rodeo Association, Missouri Junior Rodeo Circuit and the Missouri High School Rodeo. Weller has become widely known for one particular rodeo skill, goat tying. Goat tying is a rodeo event in which the participant rides to a tethered goat, dismounts, catches, throws and ties any three of its legs together. The goat must stay tied for six seconds after the contestant has backed away from the animal.
Growing up with goats, Weller is very familiar with the animal and wanted to participate in an event that combined both her and her horses' skills.
“I watched other girls participating in goat tying and it really sparked interest in me. I tried doing the other rodeo events like barrel racing and pole bending. Those take a lot of horse. It's mainly the horse doing the job, but in the goat tying event it is the combination of the horse and person performing,” explained Weller. “My horse only does half the job. He runs me down and then the rest is up to me.”
Both Quincy, Weller’s quarter horse, and the Conway native have made quite the team over the years. The duo have traveled all over the country, winning multiple 1st place saddles and 15 championship belt buckles. Weller is so dedicated to her skill that she decided to graduate high school a semester early.
“The online school was self-paced and I got on top of it. I got it all done way before the semester was even over,” added Weller. “That was my goal, to get all my high school work done so that I have more time for practice. Currently, I'm participating in the most rodeo I've ever done throughout my whole career.”
She now spends her days practicing, running clinics and traveling to the nearest rodeo. Weller’s dream is to continue goat tying at the national level, a competition she recently faced.
On March 4, Weller headed to Ft. Worth, TX to compete in the Hooey Junior Patriot Rodeo, a competition for rodeo youth under 19. Each year it brings together the past, present, and future of the most entertaining of competitive cowboy events. All contestants have to qualify in order to advance to this level of competition and Weller hit the mark. She went up against hundreds of contestants from all over the US, most competing on college rodeo teams. Weller laid it all on the line and came just shy of advancing to the final round.
“My placings weren't what I was hoping for. I did make it to the first round, but I didn't make it to the short bill,” shared Weller. “It was still really exciting to be able to compete against some really competitive girls at that level.”
However, as the famous country duo Brooks & Dunn’s song goes,“Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” and Weller saddled up her horse jumping right back into the rodeo circuit. Spending every free second sharpening her skills and networking with other talented rodeo competitors, the Conway cowgirl plans to qualify for nationals again this summer. It is apparent that Weller’s tenacious work ethic and passion is what can only be described as “true grit”.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here