Young cowboys and cowgirls from around the province pulled on their boots for the Little Britches Rodeo in 100 Mile House on May 20 and 21.
Youth under 14 participated in the events which ranged from chasing down persnickety goats in the Goat Tail Tying competition to showing off their skills and grip in the steer riding competitions. With approximately 120 entrees each day — more on Sunday — junior and senior competitors lined up for their events under the sun at the 100 Mile Outrider Grounds.
“It was probably the first weekend in three, maybe four years, that we’ve had a nice weekend and that it wasn’t pouring rain,” says organizer Denise Little of the 100 Mile & District Outriders.
The rodeo is a place where children start to learn some of those traditional rodeo skills, says Little.
“When you look at things like the Williams Lake Stampede, this is the ground route of that. This is where they get their start,” she says.
“Over the years I have been doing this I’ve watched some of the kids start at age six running poles, barrels, stakes, steer riding and now they are in their 13th, 14th year and they’re finally almost out of Little Britches. Just to watch them grow up and become adults is really exciting.”
The events teach the young cowboys and cowgirls control, says Little.
“You have to be in control of yourself. You can’t just do whatever you want to and expect to be good at it, so it’s like anything, soccer, baseball, swimming. Anything you want to excel at you have to work at it. There’s dedication.”
Riders also have to work on their horsemanship.
“A horse is not just a tool to be used. [They’re] a personal friend and you take care of them and that’s always the cowboy way. You take care of your animals before you take care of yourself.”
Little adds that one of the best parts of the rodeo is watching the children have fun, both in and out of the rodeo grounds.
“It teaches them to put others before themselves, to compete yes, but not to push everyone out of the way. There’s a lot of camaraderie as well as the competition.”
Several local competitors placed in the events. Jordyn Karl of 100 Mile House placed first in the senior girls goat tail tying event and second in her pole bending event. Will Roberts of Lac la Hache placed first in the senior boys breakaway roping and second in the goat tying. Brock Everett of 150 Mile House placed first in his senior goat tail tying event, tied for first in the steer riding event with a score of 71 and fifth in the senior boys stake race. Sam Harvey of Forest Grove placed fourth in the senior boys goat tying event. Isaac Bedford of 130 Mile House placed fourth in both senior boys chute dogging competitions, and local Mason Pincott placed third in the senior boys chute dogging and steer riding and fifth in the senior boys chute dogging.
Results:
Saturday, May 20
JR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1-Taylor Fitchett 17.813
2-Macey Freemantle 18.072
3-Ashlyn Wade 18.483
4-Alexis Bueckert 18.868
5-Nevada Jones 19.055
6-Audrey Hampton 19.183
JR GIRLS POLES
1-Taylor Anderson 23.007
2-Tori Keenan 23.541
3-Tess Rawlings 24.404
4-Ashlyn Wade 27.075
5-Simone Lamberton 27.768
6-Taylor Fitchett 28.335
JR GIRLS GOAT TAIL TYING
1-Macey Freemantle 12.6
2-Taylor Fitchett 13.1
3-Tess Rawlings 13.7
4-Tori Keenan 14.1
5-Kelsey Starrs 14.2
6-Ashlyn Wade 15.3
JR GIRLS DUMMY ROPING
1-Melissa Pinchbeck 13 pts
2/3-Ashlyn Wade 12 pts
2/3-Nevada Jones 12 pts
4-Kelsey Starrs 10 pts
5- Macey Freemantle 9 pts
6-Paige Cady 4 pts
JR BOYS STAKE RACE
1-Kale Mikkelsen 19.174
2-Turner James 21.378
3-Gage Rawlings 21.682
4-Kayden Conan 28.107
5-Colby Ignace 32.871
6-Lee Fraser 33.300
JR BOYS GOAT TAIL TYING
1-Soren Anderson 14.8
2-Cade Allison 16.4
3/4-Turner James 17.0
3/4-Kale Mikkelsen 17.0
5-Gage Rawlings 18.0
6-Timber Hunter 20.0
JR BOYS DUMMY ROPING
1-Gage Rawlings 9 pts
2/3-Lee Fraser 6 pts
2/3-Tate Allison 6 pts
4/5/6/7-Colby Ignace 3 pts
4/56/7-Cade Allison 3 pts
4/5/6/7-Soren Anderson 3 pts
4/5/6/7-Turner James 3 pts
JR BOYS STEER RIDING
1-Cade Allison 61
2/3-Tate Allison 60
2/3-Kale Mikkelsen 60
4-Keaton Antone-McRae 56
SR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1-Marina Jardine 16.792
2-Camryn Mitchell 17.369
3-Leah Keller 17.376
4-Erika Ignace 17.448
5-Rayelle Robinson 17.862
6-Raquel Marchiel 18.037
SR GIRLS POLES
1-Raquel Marchiel 22.553
2-Jordyn Karl 22.902
3-Hannah Cady 22.923
4-Marina Jardine 22.929
5-Rayelle robinson 23.226
6-Camryn Mitchell 23.262
SR GIRLS GOAT TYING
1-Jordyn Karl 14.07
2-Marina Jardine 14.95
3/4-Leah Keller 15.35
3/4-Fallon Jones 15.35
5-Vanessa Micheel 15.5
6-Elsie Rawlings 15.7
SR GIRLS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1-Marina Jardine 5.85
2-Rayelle Robinson 6.9
SR BOYS STAKE RACE
1-Dane Robinson 20.219
2-Corben Marchiel 20.601
3-Troy Homes 20.737
4-Clay Farmer 21.435
5-Wyatt Reid 21.594
6-Jalen Mcrae 21.745
SR BOYS GOAT TYING
1-Clay Farmer 20.3
2-Wyatte Reid 21.55
3-Troy Homes 21.8
4-Sam Harvey 27.8
5-Dane Robinson 36.2
6.Jake Bradley 49.9
SR BOYS BREAKAWAY ROPING
no catches
SR BOYS CHUTE DOGGING
1-Wyatt Reid 3.4
2-Isaiah Mcrae 19.85
3-Troy Holmes 19.95
4-Isaac Bedford 36.75
5-Mason Pincott 37.4
6-Chase Horsley 38.3
COED STEER RIDING
1/2-Landen Horsley 65
1/2-Wyatt Reid 65
3-Mason Pincott 60
Sunday, May 21
JR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1-Macey Freemantle 17.661
2-Taylor Fitchett 17.843
3-Tori Keenan 18.719
4-Ashlyn Wade 18.758
5-Audrey Hampton 18.780
6-Alexis Bueckert 18.921
JR GIRLS POLES
1-Taylor Fitchet 24.656
2-Sumone Lamberton 25.609
3-Ashlyn Wade 26.3234
4-Taylor Andersen 27.502
5-Kelsey Starrs 29.148
6-Tess Rawlings 29.694
JR GIRLS GOAT TAIL TYING
1-Tess Rawlings 11.1
2-Macey Freemantle 12.1
3-Kelsey Starrs 12.3
4-Audrey Hampton 12.6
5-Taylor Fitchett 12.9
6-Tori Keenan 13.5
JR GIRLS DUMMY ROPING
1-Taylor Fitchett 15/6
2-Taylor Andersen 13/5
3-Macey Freemantle 12/4
4-Melissa Pinchbeck 9/3
5/6-Grace Farrow 7/3
5/6-Tess Rawlings 7/3
JR BOYS STAKE RACE
1-Kale Mikkelsen 20.745
2-Gage Rawlings 20.984
3-James Turner 21.136
4-Soren Anderson 25.417
5-Colby Ignace 29.787
6-Deega Styran 31.597
JR BOYS GOAT TAIL TYING
1-Turner James 13.3
2-Kale Mikkelson 13.4
3-Timber Hunter 18.4
4-Lee Fraser 18.9
5-Cade Allison 19.0
6-Gage Rawlings 19.2
JR BOYS DUMMY ROPING
1-Turner James 11/7
2-Kolt Alexander 14/6
3/4-Colby Ignace 3/4
3/4-Soren Andersen 3/4
5/6/7/8-Lee Fraser 5-8
5/6/7/8-Timber Hunter 5-8
5/6/7/8-Eric Fraser 5-8
5/6/7/8-Conor Siebold 5-8
JR BOYS STEER RIDING
1-Taylor escott 68
2-Gage Rawlings 66
3-Kale Mikkelsen 62
4-Tate Allison 61
5-Tanner Loring 60
6-Keaton Antoine-Mcrae 59
SR GIRLS BARREL RACING
1-Zoey Hamming 16.984
2-Paivi Mclean 17.364
3-Erika Ignace 17.539
4-Gracie Garthwaite 17.564
5-Raquel Marchiel 17.893
6-Tyanna Cholette 17.895
SR GIRLS POLE BENDING
1-Camryn Mitchell 21.895
2-Garcie Garthwaite 22.377
3-Marina Jardine 22.503
4-Maya Starrs 22.293
5-Vanessa Michel 22.929
6-Zoey Hamming 23.168
SR GIRLS GOAT TYING
1-Elly Farmer 10.8
2-Taya Hamming 11.3
3-Fallon Jones 14.2
4-Tyanna Cholette 14.5
5/6-Camryn Mitchell 15.7
5/6-Vanessa Michel 15.7
SR GIRLS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1-Taya Hamming 3.2
2-Taylan James 3.6
3-Emalee Higgins 5.4
4-Elsie Rawlings 5.5
5-Andee Walker 6.6
SR BOYS STAKE RACING
1-Corben Marchiel 20.006
2-Clay Farmer 20.281
3-Tryton Bose 20.441
4-Dane Robinson 20.481
5-Brock Everett 20.838
6-Wyatt Reid 21.230
SR BOYS GOAT TYING
1-Brock Everett 20.8
2-Will Roberts 23.3
3-Carter Jardine 23.4
4-Jake Bradley 24.2
5-Dane Robinson 25.0
6-Troy Holmes 25.1
SR BOYS BREAKAWAY ROPING
1-Will Roberts 4.3
2-Tryton Bose 6.3
3-Troy Holmes 6.4
SR BOYS CHUTE DOGGING
1-Wyatt Reid 3.4
2-Troy Holmes 5.2
3-Isaiah Mcrae 5.5
4-Isaac Bedford 12.2
5-Mason Pincott 12.5
6-Landen Horsley 13.6
COED STEER RIDING
1/2-Landen Horsley 71
1/2-Brock Everett 71
3-Wyatt Reid 67
4-Kolby Turmel 64
All around winners over both days:
Junior Girls All Around — Taylor Fitchett
Reserve All Around — Macey Freemantle
Junior Boys All Around — Kale Mikkelsen
Reserve All Around — Turner James
Senior Girls All Around — Marina Jardine
Reserve All Around — Cmaryn Mitchell
Senior Boys All Around — Wyatt Reid
Reserve All Around — Troy Holmes
Safety Draw Winner — Emalee Higgins
Competitor Draw — Isaiah Mcrae
Hard Luck Pick —Madelin Pozzobon