Team saddles up for competition
A sitdown with Kate Clissold and Paige Morgan, of the USU Rodeo Team, affords quite the lesson in time management. A normal day for either one includes waking up, exercising their horses and going to practice — and that’s just before classes start.
Being on the team while juggling classes, doing homework and finding time for a social life can be a challenge but the women said they are having fun.
“It’s like a big family,” Clissold, a junior animal science major, said.
Team members can compete on the collegiate level for up to four years, she said. USU is part of the Rocky Mountain Region, which competes in 10 rodeos per year — half in the fall and half in the spring. The team travels throughout Utah and Idaho.
Team adviser Jeffery Hall said being on the team offers a unique experience.
“When you do a lot of traveling, you get really close,” he said. “If you rodeo, you know you automatically have help.”
Though rodeo is often associated with agriculture, Hall said less than 20 percent of students involved with his team are College of Agriculture students. They come from all walks of life but can find common ground in rodeo, he said.
Hall said for most people in rodeo their team is like their family, even to the point they will rely on each other in times of crisis. Hall said he recalled a time when he got a phone call from a member of the rodeo circuit he did not know who asked for help assisting a man who had cancer. Over 100 people showed up to help plant crops for the sick man.
Many members of rodeo teams are exposed to the rodeo circuit their entire lives and collect equipment along the way. In the rodeo world, generally quarter horses are used to compete.
“Quarter horses are bred to work hard, and they love to work,” Clissold said.
The quality of these well-bred horses does not come cheap. A top of the line horse can cost anywhere from $50 to $60 thousand, Hall said.
“It’s like buying a car,” Morgan said. “How well do you want it to run?” The junior agriculture student asked.
She said buying a horse is an investment and should be carefully considered.
“My horse lives better than me,” Morgan added.
Along with horse expenditures, involvement in the rodeo circuit can be an expensive sport for a student. Each year, the club gets a set amount of money from the Outdoor Recreation Program, but most members of the team still to work full- or part-time jobs to be able to participate in the sport. Typical travel expenses include transporting horses and paying for fuel, food and motel rooms. Members also have to pay to house their horses and rent pastures at the local fair ground where they compete.
During the five fall season rodeos, the rodeo team competes in events such as bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, barrel racing, goat tying, breakaway roping, team roping, calf roping, and steer wrestling.
At competitions everything from ambulances to veterinarians must be present in case of accidents or injuries to humans or animals.
The home rodeo is the USU Fall Stampede, Sept. 23 and 24. Tickets will be sold a week prior to the event in the ticket office for $3. Tickets can also be purchased from any member of the team. Tickets at the door will be $5. the club gets a set amount of money from the Club and Recreation Department but most members of the team have to work full- or part-time in order to participate in the sport. Typical travel expenses include transporting horses and fuel, food and motel rooms. Members also have to pay to house their horses at the local fair ground where they compete and rent pastures.
In the fall season, the Rodeo Team will be involved in five rodeos competing in events such as bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, barrel racing, goat tying, breakaway roping, team roping, calf roping, calf roping and steer wresting.
At competitions, everything from ambulances to veterinarians must be present in case of accidents or injuries to human or animal.
The home rodeo is the USU Fall Stampede on September 23 and 24. Tickets will be sold a week prior to the event in the ticket office for $3. Tickets can also be purchased from any member of the team. Tickets at the door for $5.
— jen.howard@aggiemail.usu.edu