story by Lily Weinacht
Ashlee Kritenbrink of Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, made many of her earliest rodeo memories in the NLBRA. The 18 year old has devoted the last 13 seasons to Little Britches, competing in all seven of the senior girls events. Both her parents, Kelly and Mary Kritenbrink, competed in high school, and Mary also grew up rodeoing with Little Britches.
“Being a competitor definitely motivates me,” says Ashlee, who also rodeos in the SDHSRA. “I’m a very competitive person, and to come back and see all my friends and compete against a bunch of really good ropers or goat tyers is something I love!” She names breakaway roping as her favorite, saying, “I like the mentality and the confidence you have to have going into it. You have to be smart and have quick reactions, and it’s the best feeling when you see the figure eight come around, and the slack goes out and it breaks away.” She’s qualified numerous times for the NLBFR, but accomplished a new goal this summer, making it back to the short-go in three of her seven events – breakaway roping, trail course, and ribbon roping. Ashlee runs ribbons for Nolan Smith, recalling that the first time she ran ribbons, she was clotheslined and ended up tearing her belt in half.
She’s coached by her parents, as well as Tony March, a family friend who’s influenced her roping career. “I practice with him sometimes, and I used to go down to his house and practice with his daughters,” says Ashlee. “Cassidy March was my team roping partner when I started heeling. We have an arena right next to our house that’s really nice to practice in, and we travel to friends’ houses to rope.”
Ashlee’s four-legged teammates are Turbo and Charlie, and she borrowed her sister’s horse, Doc, for team roping for a time. “Turbo is a roan quarter pony – he’s maybe 14 hands – with a quarter horse body and little pony legs. He’s an all-around horse, you can do almost anything on him, and I use him for breakaway, goats, trail, and team roping if I’m in a jam. Charlie is my brown horse, and I use him for barrels and poles.” Ashlee’s 11-year-old sister, Addison, competes in the junior girls division in barrel racing, goat tying, pole bending, and trail course, also qualifying for the NLBFR. “It was really nice to go down to finals with her and watch her compete,” says Ashlee. “I really liked the Lazy E Arena, and having the indoor arena was very nice.”
A senior at Custer High School, Ashlee makes the nearly two hour drive into school four days a week. “I listen to a lot of music. If I didn’t, it would be terrible!” she says with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve heard every song ever made.” Her favorite class is physics, where they’ve been working on velocity lab, calculating velocity, time, and position. She’s also played volleyball on her school’s team the last three years, and is wrestling for the first time this winter. “It takes strong mental game, and I figured I was tough enough to keep up with the boys,” she explains. “I’ll be on the boys team – I don’t think we’ve ever had a girl wrestler.”
When she’s not practicing, Ashlee saddles up to help her family check fences and work cattle. She and Addison are the fourth generation to work their family’s ranch. Their grandparents, Bob and Marian Trew, both competed in rodeo, Marian in the barrel racing and goat tying, using piggin’ strings before goat tying strings were available. “Grandma comes to watch all of our rodeos, and she also announces a lot of Little Britches rodeos,” says Ashlee.
“I definitely want to college rodeo or compete in the SDRA, but one of my biggest goals is to win a saddle, and I’d like to qualify for the NHSFR this year. I want to keep stepping up the competitive ladder, and getting better and better!”