By Lori Bizzell / Photos Courtesy of Westi Myers and Team Cavender’s

A New Chapter in the Myers Name

Westi Myers was about four years old when her older brothers started setting her up on one of their calf horses while they practiced.

She remembers riding him around and being pretty taken with the whole deal. Before long, she had a horse of her own.

That wasn’t exactly unusual in the Myers family. Westi’s dad competed professionally, and her grandfather and uncle reached the world championship level. Rodeo wasn’t something she watched from the grandstands and decided looked fun. She grew up in it.

“I loved horses,” Westi said. “I always dreamed of, of course, going to the NFR on my barrel horse. I’d say about 12, I just fell in love with breakaway roping. I loved the process, and I loved that my family had been there too. Since I was six years old, I always knew I wanted to compete, but probably when I was 12, I realized that I had a chance in breakaway to go do this for a living,” she said.

Westi is 16 now, a homeschooled junior from Athens, Texas, and there is no question she understands the name she carries when she backs into the box. She likes hearing people talk about her grandfather and her dad. “I just hope I get to carry on the Myers name,” she said. “I love when I’m back in the box, and they talk about my grandfather and my father. I hope one day, when my kids get to rodeo, that I get to carry on that same thing.”

Some weight comes with a family history like that, but Westi is quick to make one thing clear. Her family isn’t putting it on her. “The pressure has always come from me,” she said. “My father and family couldn’t care less if I rodeo. They just want me to do what I love. It does come with some pressure from being champions, but honestly, this is just what I want to do. It’s what I love.”

Her dad has made sure she understands something else too. Rodeo is a big part of their lives, but it isn’t all of life. “He’s taught me that this isn’t forever, and that all the wins and everything, it’s just a result,” Westi said. “I need to enjoy the lifestyle and the horses and being able to get to do this, because not many people do. This is a very big blessing.”

Her mom’s lessons were different: hard work. “She is probably one of the hardest workers I know,” Westi said. Her mom wasn’t a rodeo competitor. She was a golfer, and Westi credits her with helping develop the mental side of her game. “She taught me how to keep going,” Westi said. “She knows how to get out there and just keep working at it, even when it’s hard. I feel like she’s helped me tremendously with that.”

That mental game is where Westi says she’s putting a lot of attention right now. Breakaway doesn’t give a girl much time to sort things out once the gate cracks. That’s part of why Westi likes it.

“Honestly, just the adrenaline rush that I’m going to get to go fast,” she said. “But also, the competitors that are around you. They’re always uplifting and there for you. I really love that aspect of it.”

She also knows one run can follow you into the next if you let it. There is a saying Westi keeps in mind: “If you’re still worried about the last calf when you run the next one, you’re trying to rope two calves. I really like to think about that,” she said. When a run goes wrong, she heads back to the practice pen if she can. If she can’t, she’ll watch video. “I can’t really control the run that has just been,” she said.

Westi gets plenty of practice in patience away from competition too. She rides and trains young horses, and anybody who has spent much time on young horses knows some make the lessons come a little harder than others.

“You have to have patience on the young horses,” she said. “Honestly, I love seeing one come together. It makes me very proud when they try and figure it out. It’s made me love the sport of rodeo even more, to be able to continue with those horses and see them grow as much as I grow with them.”

And yes, she’s had some difficult ones as well. “Those are usually the ones that make you want to question why you’re doing it,” Westi said. “But as soon as you push through and they get through it, then it’s a pretty good prize.”

The horse Westi is competing on now is Player, a sorrel Quarter Horse belonging to her cousin Quaid’s girlfriend. Westi likes him because he’s smart and strong, and he makes her job pretty easy. He also knows her well enough that she can’t fool him. “Player knows exactly how nervous I am. I try to play it cool, but I know that he can tell because he gets amped up too.”

Westi may come from a serious rodeo family, but she is still a girl who likes her dad’s steaks after a long day outside. And if she were to have an absolutely fancy-free Saturday, you’d probably find her with her friend Corlee. Corlee also happens to be a Team Cavender’s athlete. “We’d probably go to the lake all day, and then that night we’d go rope,” Westi said.

This is Westi’s first year on Team Cavender’s, something she was genuinely excited about when she learned she’d been selected. “I’ve seen what all they’ve done and how they’ve grown their athletes,” she said. “It was a sweet thing that I was picked.”

She’s already found that the team part of Team Cavender’s means something. “I love building that family bond that I have with them,” she said. “I’ve gotten so close with other athletes just because of this program.”

There is, of course, another matter this cowgirl thinks about before heading into the arena that I was curious about.

What to wear.

Like most Cowgirls, Westi does put some thought into it. “I’ll usually pick what shirt I want to wear, and then I kind of match what color jeans I want to wear,” she said. “But sometimes when you’re late or behind, you kind of just throw something on and hope that you don’t look crazy.”

She laughed about that one too. “I try to match as well as I can and look presentable.”

However, what Westi hopes people notice once she gets into the arena has very little to do with her shirt. Especially the younger girls watching. “I hope they see the joy that it brings me to rodeo,” she said. “I hope I’m bringing joy, and they want to compete like me, even if they lose or something. They’re still just happy to be out there. I hope that’s what I can show them. That win or lose, I’m just grateful to be out there.”

“God has blessed me with so many things and horses and people,” Westi said. “He’s really blessed me. I know that He’s got a plan for me, and I’m just going to keep going along. Whatever He has planned out for me is how it’s going to be, and I’m fine with that.”

She doesn’t want success to make her forget what it took to get there either.

“I hope I never forget all the hard work that I’ve put in and know that I can work this hard,” she said. “I hope that never gets away from me, and I never take that for granted.”

There are plenty of rodeos already written into the Myers family story. Westi isn’t trying to rewrite any of it. She wants to add something. Breakaway.

“I hope that I get to carry on the name in breakaway roping, just like they have in the bulldogging and the tie-down,” she said.

I asked Westi if given the chance to write her own chapter, what would the title be? Her answer: “Carrying on the Myers Name in Breakaway. “I hope it says that I’ve got a world title. I would love that, but more importantly, I think I want it to say what a light I was in the arena and how enjoyable it was to watch, win or lose. That’s really important to me. And hopefully I can show God’s good faith in the arena and outside.”

For all the championships already attached to the Myers name, that sounds like a pretty good chapter of her own.

Accolades Side Box:

  • Texas High School Rodeo Association State Qualifier (2025)
  • Best of the Best Junior Incentive Breakaway Champion (2025)
  • Best of the Best Open Breakaway Average Third-Place Finisher (2025)
  • Junior NFR Qualifier (2025)
  • Vegas Tuffest Qualifier (2025)
  • Texas High School Rodeo Association Reserve Champion Breakaway Roper (2026)
  • Texas High School Rodeo Association Breakaway Average Champion (2026)
  • Texas High School Rodeo Association State Qualifier (2026)
  • Junior NFR Qualifier (2026)
  • Vegas Tuffest Qualifier (2026)