Boots, buckles and broncs

DU QUOIN, Ill. — Before every run, Morgan McKinney stares into the distance. She pulls up on the reins, knowing Brady, her 19-year-old bay horse, will follow her gaze to the far side of the rodeo arena.

She picked a spot on the far side of the arena and visualized a clean run. Then, Morgan, a senior at New Palestine High School, dropped her hands. Brady knew what to do next.

He galloped forward, past the six poles lined up in the middle of the arena. Then Morgan turned the horse, weaving him down through the poles, then weaving back up, before turning and sprinting toward the gate again.

On a riser overlooking the arena, Morgan’s mom, Julie, followed Brady and Morgan with her iPad.

The announcer read Morgan’s time: 22.883 seconds.

“I guess for the first run of the year, not bad, but not what we were wanting,” Julie said, punching her daughter’s time to the iPad. “She’s not going to be happy.”

This is what high school rodeo looks like east of the Mississippi. It’s teams travelling around the Midwest to compete. It’s warming up the horses early because the temperature is too cold. It’s cowgirls giggling over which Instagram caption to use — #RodeoLyfe? #RodeoSwag? It’s birthday cake in the stables between events. It’s showing off championship saddles and belt buckles.

Most of all, it’s a lot of waiting. Waiting for your event, waiting for your turn in the draw, waiting, waiting, waiting.

Morgan, 18, competes in pole bending and barrel racing with the Indiana High School Rodeo Association. She has been only competing in high school rodeo for three years, but has been to nationals every year so far.

All her best friends rodeo with her, she said. While her classmates were putting on ballgowns for prom last year, she was in Du Quoin, Ill., strapping a saddle on Brady.

She’s a senior now, and is going to Purdue University next year to become a veterinarian.

“I couldn’t see myself not being with animals just because they consume my life now,” she said.

She watched the first run of the day on her mom’s iPad while waiting in her parent’s camper. Brady gave up early. He lifted his head up at the second pole, he was gasping for air by the time they finished.

Morgan’s time will be averaged with her time for the next day, which means both she and Brady would have to do better to keep ahead in the state rankings.

“What’s your goals this year?” Julie asked Morgan.

“They’re to make nationals in both events and win,” Morgan said. “On the right track so far. Just my barrels to work on.”

“Wish I was on the right track,” Michael Shreeve, one of Morgan’s friends in rodeo, said.

Michael, 17, rides bulls and competes in team roping, but he’s been a bull rider since he was 7. He’s been state champion in the event for three years and has already been offered a scholarship to ride bulls at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

“I’d rather get on 20 bulls than rope 20 steers,” he said. “I know people who make a living off it, but you gotta have a backup plan. That’s why I’m going to college.”

He showed off his gear behind the chutes, where cowboys congregate and get ready for their eight-second ride. He pulls out of a gear bag his $500 helmet (“That’s the most important thing”) his $250 bull rope (“This sure can get expensive”) and his $55 blue jeans (“Your mother will get pretty mad if you wear a new pair of jeans to ride”).

As the rodeo began, Michael took off his black cowboy hat and knelt to the ground, putting a hand in the dirt. He asked God not for the best run of the night, but to keep him safe.

He knows accidents happen all the time in roughstock events like bull and bronco riding. Just a few minutes later, the first bareback rider of the night was bucked to the ground, dragged across the arena and slammed into the metal fence.

The next morning, western swing echoed around the arena as judges prepared for the day’s competition. In the stables, Morgan was getting Brady for their second pole bending run.

It was warmer than the day before, hopefully Brady wouldn’t be as stiff. Morgan put some rubbing alcohol and IcyHot near his flank to help with muscle spasms before riding him around the rodeo grounds.

Before the run, she handed her hat and jacket to Michael and strapped on a helmet. The announcer called her name. Her mom was standing by with the iPad.

She led Brady to the gate and pulled on the reins. She stared to the far side of the arena for a moment, then dropped her hands. Brady knew what to do next.