story by Lily Weinacht
The Elshere family is as readily equated with the world of saddle bronc riding as Mount Rushmore is with their home state of South Dakota, and Carter Elshere is no exception. The 18-year-old from Elm Springs, South Dakota, competes in saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, and team roping as a heeler. “Saddle bronc riding is my favorite. When I went to rodeos with my dad, that’s all he did, and I watched the other events too, but nothing caught my attention like the bronc riding,” says Carter. “Now that I’m doing it, I don’t think I could go without it – nothing feels better than going out and making a good ride.”
Competing on both ends of the arena, Carter gets his bronc saddle behind the chutes before the rodeo starts. “I usually tie-down rope first and take care of my horse, then get ready behind the chutes. It’s almost always a hustle between bronc riding and team roping, but my sister is awesome about helping me get horses warmed up if I’m short on time.”
Family is an integral part of Carter’s rodeoing, including his parents, Ryan and Chrissy, his sister, Camri, 14, and brother, Rylin, 10, who also compete in rodeo. “In everything I’ve done, my dad has been right there behind me, helping me and telling me what I did right or wrong,” says Carter. “My mom is always encouraging us and videoing all our runs, and my uncles, Cory and JJ, help me out too. JJ practices with us a lot, and pretty much my whole family is involved. It’s awesome all the good friends we have in the rodeo world. My cousin Cole pro rodeos, and my other cousin Trey and our friend Cash Wilson and I go to Wall to ride practice broncs. My grandpa let us have some of his bucking horses, and we have some broncs from Clete and Cleve Schmidt that we’ll practice on.”
For his timed events, Carter rides three horses. “Blooper is my all-around horse. We’ve had him since he was a colt, and I’ve been riding him since I started rodeoing. I have a new horse coming along, Slider, who came from Chuck and Mary Crago in Belle Fourche. He’s an awesome horse – quick with good stops – and I’m hoping to use him in college this fall. My main team roping horse, Flitty, came from my aunt and uncle. He is my sister’s barrel horse, and my uncle heeled off him.” Carter grew up roping with his neighbor, Savana Johnston, and they started entering high school rodeos together last year. “We live just a mile apart, so we call each other up and rope,” he says.
A senior at Wall High School, this was Carter’s first year taking Ag. classes. “In woodworking, we’ve been making miniature wooden barns, and in metals, I made a new tailgate for my dad’s pickup. I had forgotten to put the tailgate down after unhooking our trailer, so I owed him in a new one.” Carter also played quarterback and cornerback on the football team, and he and his basketball team finished their best season since he started high school.
Once he’s home from school, Carter usually helps his dad and grandpa on their ranch with riding colts, mending fence, or working in the shop. “We train outside horses, and we also break colts for some people that raise horses. Between my Grandpa Lonnie’s cattle and all of ours, we have about 450 head,” says Carter. “I also like hunting deer, and calling in coyotes.”
Carter competed in saddle bronc riding at the NHSFR last year and hopes to return once more this summer. He also plans to college rodeo in all three events and eventually rodeo professionally. “I have about ten cows I’ve raised, so when I’m not rodeoing, I’d like to come home and work on the ranch. But my main goal is to get out and become a successful bronc rider.”
