Breakaway’s Balancing Act
This was the inaugural summer that a mind-boggling number of lucrative PRCA rodeos added breakaway. For all those gals who rope and have never been barrel racers, this was a new frontier. They could hardly not think of competing at places they never dreamed they could enter, from Cody, Wyoming, to Prescott, Arizona. Plus, that proverbial carrot—a possible chance to rope in Las Vegas in December—weighed heavily on women for whom it was never before possible.
The irony, of course, is that because the opportunity to rodeo at full tilt didn’t exist until this summer, these same women have already spent their adult lives in pursuit of attainable goals with their families and/or careers. The shift begs the question: How did ropers with kids and/or careers juggle the temptation and logistics?
Livin’ the dream
“APRCA Cowboy Christmas schedule has always been the dream in rodeo, but it was never ours as breakaway ropers,” said South Dakota’s Brenda White, who won the breakaway at the 1997 CNFR for the University of Wyoming. “We’re living the dream this summer.”
The Badlands
