While Reed\u2019s qualification for the Junior World Finals rodeo was not surprising, her rise to the top of the junior ranks was somewhat unexpected given her background.<\/p>\n
Born in Durango and raised in Montezuma County, Reed, like many of her peers, grew up riding four-wheelers and side-by-sides on weekends, swimming in local lakes and enjoying the outdoors.<\/p>\n
Unlike many top junior rodeo competitors, however, Reed and her family neither owned horses nor had any familiarity with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not grow up around horses, and I didn\u2019t start riding until I was in middle school,\u201d the high school senior said. A few of my middle school friends had horses, and I would ride when I went over to their house. I really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After becoming increasingly comfortable in the saddle and slowly gaining an interest in rodeo, Reed and her family purchased a horse and some barrels and began dabbling in barrel racing.<\/p>\n
Immediately after competing in her first junior rodeo during her freshman year of high school, Reed knew that she had found her calling and with the help of her parents, Robert and Michelle Reed, began traveling to junior rodeos all over the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve traveled to Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, and all over Colorado,\u201d Reed said. \u201cSome months, we\u2019ve had a rodeo every week. We\u2019ve spent a lot of time on the road, and we\u2019ve had a lot of fun together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Reed\u2019s willingness to travel to numerous rodeos greatly aided in her development as a barrel racer, her ascension to the top of the junior did not become a reality until she paired herself with her spirited horse.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy horse\u2019s name is \u2018Salty,\u2019 and let\u2019s just say that the name fits him,\u201d Reed said with a smile. \u201cHe is this little 14.2 (hand) pony \u2013 he\u2019s a short little thing. We bought him in Missouri about a year-and-a-half ago. He has so much spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Salty\u2019s spirit has stood out on the junior circuit, so, too, has his speed and his quickness around barrels, which has allowed Reed to make up for the type of slight mishaps that sometimes take place during a run.<\/p>\n
Riding Salty has not come without challenges, however, as Reed\u2019s energetic mount has sometimes had difficulty getting around the second barrel, which has led to time penalties and a few less-than-perfect finishes.<\/p>\n
The partnership between Reed and Salty has been a wonderful one, however, as the blond-haired rider and the brown horse with a black tail and white markings on his face and legs have forged a bond built on mutual respect and trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that they\u2019ve learned a lot about connection from one another,\u201d said Reed\u2019s mother, Michelle, when asked about her daughter and the horse. \u201cChevelle has learned that if you take care of a horse, they take care of you right back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to a bright future<\/p>\n While many junior rodeo competitors slow down come winter, Reed has been eagerly preparing for this year\u2019s Junior World Finals rodeo, which will take place, Dec. 3-12, in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n Among the highlights of the prestigious event, which is slated to include more than 700 competitors from around the country and Canada, will be an opportunity for competitors to witness the National Finals Rodeo, which will take place in Fort Worth during the same time period.<\/p>\n Although Reed admitted competition will be tight, she emphasized that she will take the three-run event one at a time because final rankings are determined by the overall average of a competitor\u2019s three runs.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that I get clean rides every day that I ride\u201d Reed said. \u201cYou basically win off of the average, and I need to keep that in mind. I just hope that I can get nice runs and keep the barrels standing.\u201d<\/p>\n In the event that the Montezuma-Cortez High School rodeo star is successful, she will likely claim a portion of what the rodeo advertises as \u201cmore than $200,000 payout and prices,\u201d scholarships, saddles, and other gear.<\/p>\n Even if she does not capture a portion of the payout, however, Reed is hopeful that her hard work and dedication will pay dividends in the form of a college scholarship and an opportunity to compete on one of several rodeo teams around the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cI just applied for college at University of Wyoming,\u201d Reed said. \u201cI am hoping to rodeo for them. I plan on rodeo being a continuous sport for me throughout my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what advice she might give to young riders in her community who would one day like to be where she is now, Reed paused before noting that achieving excellence in any walk of life requires determination and dedication.<\/p>\n \u201cI would tell them not to give up and keep working hard,\u201d Reed said. \u201cIf you lose hope, just keep going after it. I have lost my interest (in rodeo) so many times, but I have always come back. You just have to keep at it.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was reposted Nov. 17 to correct the spelling of the Chevelle Reed\u2019s name.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" senior Chevelle Reed qualifies for Junior World Finals rodeo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87738,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50396\/revisions\/87738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50396"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}