story by Lily Weinacht
Bridget Merrigan has traversed much of the Mid-West in her travels with the NLBRA, from Indiana and Illinois to Kansas and south to Arkansas, but she’s at home no matter the destination when she’s with her family known as Little Britches. The 18 year old from Conception Junction, Mo., joined the NLBRA in late 2014, and in the handful of years since, she’s qualified twice for the NLBFR and forged bonds especially meaningful since her mom, Susan Merrigan, passed away in 2012.
“I’ve grown up in rodeo and played other sports, but rodeo stands out to me,” says Bridget. “Other sports sometimes can’t get past the rivalry and competition, and rodeo is still really competitive, but people will also give you the shirt off their back if you need it. And I’ve never been to a rodeo where they didn’t pray at the start,” she adds. “I’m a Christian and that faith is a big thing in my life.” She rested even more on that faith as a freshman in high school when her mom passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm. “She’d always had bad headaches, but in the last four months, they went away and she rode with us more and was the happiest I’d ever seen her,” says Bridget. In late August, Susan was making dinner when she mentioned she had a bad headache, and only minutes later, the aneurysm ruptured and she passed away. “It’s not been easy, but God has a plan, and He’s definitely shown His grace and mercy to our family. So many people have played that role of a mom in rodeo for me, and it’s a lot more meaningful to me now.”
Bridget is one of eight brothers and sisters, all of whom rodeo, as well as two step-brothers since her dad, Steve Merrigan, remarried. She grew up on a ranch where her parents ran cattle and 200 head of horses, 150 of those broodmares. “My dad is the first generation of our family to rodeo and I grew up checking cows and going to youth rodeos and horse shows,” Bridget recalls. “I got on my first horse by myself when I was two and made it a few laps around the arena before I fell off and broke my arm.” She’s finishing her final season with the MHSRA and competes in every event but the goat tying in Little Britches. Any event involving a rope is her favorite. “My mom always joked that I came out swinging the umbilical cord when I was born. I like all my events, but I grew up roping, and it’s relevant to my work. I work for my dad and for a rancher with 3,000 head of cattle, and roping is how rodeo started in my opinion. I’ve also grown to like trail course a lot – opening gates and backing up are things you need to know on a ranch.”
Bridget practices with her friend, Sami O’Day, where her horses stayed while she went to school at East Buchannan High School. They also practice with Roy Durfey, Tyson Durfey’s dad. “I worked for him for a summer, and he has practice every Wednesday night and tells us to come whenever we need to. He’s been great to us.” Bridget and Sami compete together in the team roping and ribbon roping in both high school rodeo and Little Britches. Bridget rides a mare, Martha, in all of her events, but has ridden Sami’s horse on the rare occasion Martha can’t compete. “There’s nothing like a bond with a horse, and I love seeing the growth in young horses and the effort they put out,” she says. “I had more horses to compete on a few years ago, but we lost three of them in four months and later we needed to sell half our land, so that limited my horses. But I raised Martha from a baby and trained her. We have a bond, and she’s a hard worker.”
Bridget and Martha are headed for Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell this fall, college rodeoing while Bridget is double majoring in biology, and livestock production and management. She’s going into college with 38 credits completed in high school, along with academic and rodeo scholarships. “Mr. Robert Etbauer is the head rodeo coach there, and he hardly knew me and let me get on his horse and rope with the team when I visited. I could tell how much he cared about the team, and that really hit home for me. After I finish my bachelor’s degrees, I’d like to go on to vet school or chiropractic school.”
She crisscrossed the U.S. to watch her sister compete in the CNFR and her brother in the NJHFR before going on to her own finals, including the NLBFR in all her events and the NHSFR in breakaway roping. “My goal has been to make the short-go with both of those, and I’d like to make the College finals by my sophomore year,” Bridget says. “I’m also interested in being a part of Fellowship of Christian Cowboys or Cowboys for Christ. But my goal in all of it is to glorify God.”
