While other teenagers are sleeping in on Saturday mornings, Emily Sargent is up at the crack of dawn, cleaning and feeding her horses, preparing them for a few hours of rodeo practice.
Emily trains for various roping events for two hours every day in a neighbor's arena or in the wash near her home at the base of Mount Lemmon.
Emily, an only child, has two quarter horses and one energetic dog, but without the goats and cows she needs to practice rope tying, the 14-year-old relies on neighbors' animals.
"It's kind of a situation where you just make do with what you've got," said her mother, Vanessa Sargent.
Emily has taken riding lessons, but stopped two years ago. Now she relies on the help of friends who own goats to practice rope tying, which involves catching a goat by tossing a loop of rope around its neck, dismounting the horse and tying three of the goat's legs together in the shortest time possible.
People are also reading…
Emily's best time in the event is 9.82 seconds.
Emily practices her breakaway roping (similar to goat tying, but the animal's legs are not tied) on "Sparky," a plastic cow's head attached to a yellow barrel her neighbor helped build. Her mom ties Sparky to an ATV and Emily chases after them into the arena, her rope swinging above her head.
"We're very proud of her," her mom said. "We're watching her grow around doing something positive."
All that hard work is paying off. Next week, Emily will travel with her parents, horses and dog, Misty, to Gallup, N.M., for the Seventh Annual National Junior High Finals Rodeo competition. There, she will represent Arizona in the goat-tying and breakaway roping events, competing against thousands of other youths for the chance to win belt buckles and saddles as well as college scholarships.
"I want to make the short round," she said, which means placing in the top 20.
Emily has been riding horses since she was 6 and competing since she was 9. Friends and family say they have seen her steadily improve over the last eight years.
Bobbi Houston, horse trainer and proprietor of Houston's Horseback Riding on Tucson's east side, called Emily "very dedicated." The two became close friends while Emily was taking riding lessons with Bobbi and her husband, Matt.
"Rodeo is an individual sport," she said. "We practice in groups, but you still have to have the drive."
Emily's dedication became more obvious last year, when she placed in the top 20 for goat tying and ribbon roping at the state competition, though she did not qualify for nationals. After that, she said, she spent more time practicing with her horses, one in particular.
"I just get along better with Lucky," she said, "Magic bites me."
Emily definitely has, as her mother described, "a passion for horses." Her favorite movies are "Secretariat" and "Black Beauty." Her hero is Sherry Cervi, a world-champion barrel racer. Emily met her at the Tucson Rodeo in February.
"I want to be good at barrel racing like she is," Emily said.
The family's backyard barn is adorned with horse posters and drawings. Inside, the small upstairs loft has become a hideout for Emily and her friends.
Emily will attend Tanque Verde High School in the fall. She plans to continue participating in rodeo events there.
"Her journey is not over with this junior high rodeo," her mom said.
Continued on next page
Continued from previous page
Madelaine Archie is a University of Arizona journalism student who is an apprentice at the Star. Contact her at 807-7776 or starapprentice@azstarnet.com
