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MPS Student Lassos a Championship

Pake Johnston

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Maywood Senior, Bailey Brown, is the 2015 Nebraska High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) Champion in breakaway roping. Bailey was declared the breakaway champion at the NHSRA finals held June 20, 2015, in Hastings. Bailey was also awarded a championship belt buckle and a saddle custom designed to her specifications.

Ever since Bailey Brown was little, she was always on a horse. Her dad, Ray Brown, taught her everything from riding a horse to competing in the arena. Throughout the years her go-to horse for competing has been Dalton, a bay quarter horse, which is built and trained for events like breakaway roping and barrel racing. Bailey uses him for the high school level and the amateur level. Baily said that the reason she is so successful in the rodeo arena is because “I have a good horse that gets close to the calf so I can rope it.” She has made it to nationals for breakaway roping three of her four years, and this year she is looking to make it back again.

Breakaway roping is a variation of calf roping where a calf is roped, but not thrown and tied. Once the rope is around the calf's neck, the roper signals the horse to stop suddenly. The rope is tied to the saddle horn with a string. When the calf hits the end of the rope, the rope is pulled tight and the string breaks. The breaking of the string marks the end of the run. The rope usually has a small white flag at the end that makes the moment the rope breaks more easily seen by the timer. The fastest run wins.

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This fall kicks off the 2015-2016 season a host of rodeos. There are eight rodeos on the weekend, but the two days she is there it counts as two rodeos. For the spring there is the same amount of rodeos as the fall. Her major rodeo was at state finals in Hastings, where she knew she was going to win state finals in breakaway. With the new year Bailey is currently setting 4th in the breakaway, 25th in barrel racing and team roping 23^rd, along with her partner Cody Henderson. With a lot of hard work and skill, and a bit of luck, maybe Bailey she can break away from the herd and lasso another championship this year!

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The American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less. The American Quarter Horse is the most popular breed in the United States today and  is well known for its performance in rodeos, where its compact body is well-suited to the intricate and speedy maneuvers required in breakaway roping, cutting, barrel racing,  and other western riding events.