I discovered this young lady the last two days. Perhaps she is known locally. I went to the finals of Cheyenne Frontier Days this weekend as always. It is certainly one of the biggest, if not the biggest mid-season rodeos. The competition is very strong with very nice payday potential.
Up comes this lady from of all places, Wynne, AR in the barrel race and she did very well in the simifinals yesterday and finished I think 4th today (out of well over 100). I know she has been rodeoing hard this season and she was setting just outside of the top 15 (You need to be in the top 15 to make the NFR in Vegas in December). Her name is Taycie Matthews. I will be following her here on out and hope she makes the big show. It will be great to see someone carry the Arkansas flag into The Thomas and Mac again.
Is the Arkansas State Fair and Rodeo still in Oct? Qualifications for the NFR closes Sep. 30.
Way to go Taycie and good luck the rest of the way!
My wife was a barrel racer. First you have to have a great horse. Next you have to be a terrific rider. And then there is the practice. Tons of time in the practice pen. So proud to see one of our own doing great on the big stage. The cost of this sport is huge. Travel, truck/trailer, horse upkeep and entry fees to name a few. You better win or have deep pockets.
Just looked her up. She is on the rodeo team at East Mississippi CC in Scuba. Maybe Netflix will do a last chance rodeo series, featuring a foul mouth rodeo coach!. From Wynne, but not a Yellowjacket. Went to a school called Zion Academy. Wishing her Deangelo Williams like success and longevity in her rodeo career.
I saw her make 2 better runs. She lost time on this run the 3 barrel. In this event, a 0.1 second is almost a lifetime. I think 17.18 won yesterday seems like she was in mid .3s.
Watching Taycie gets my Yellowstone juices flowing. Season 5 set to release on 13 November. My family lived a few years near Great Falls in the flat to rolling plains of eastern MT. Whenever possible, we headed west to the mountains.
Most of the incredibly beautiful scenery in Yellowstone is filmed near Darby, MT. I drove through the area a few years ago. Reminded me of some parts of Alaska.
