story by Lily Weinacht
Barrel racer and pole bender Christa Williams is sitting high in the standings of both her events going into the second half of the KJHSRA season. Persistence and hard work have been key for the 14-year-old from Abbyville, Kansas, who started rodeoing when she was 6. Her dad, Justin Williams, used to ride saddle broncs and team rope, while her older brothers, Tim and Colton, competed in multiple events through junior high and high school, and qualified for Nationals five times. “Christa has a lot to look up to,” says her mom, Crystal Williams. “She’s pretty serious about what she does.”
Christa’s favorite KJHSRA rodeo is state finals. “I like how their barn is set up, and it’s a good sized pattern and the horses are running on good ground.” She and her pole horse made solid runs at state finals, where she was also given the 2017 Tyson Durfey Sportsmanship Award. Christa was utterly surprised by the accomplishment, and says she wears her buckle all the time. She’s equally serious about horsemanship, and practices every day, if possible, joined in the practice pen by her parents, or taking lessons from Stephanie Gray. “She’s been a huge inspiration for Christa this season, and helped her so much in barrel racing and given her confidence,” says Crystal.
Currently, Christa is fourth in the barrel racing, and third in her favorite event of pole bending. “It has more challenges,” Christa explains. “I like rodeo because it’s fun and I meet new friends.” She also uses the rodeos to train and season ponies, a project she started about four years ago. “I train them to ride, so kids that either don’t have the money or don’t get to ride a big horse yet can compete. I’m working with Coco and Cinch right now.”
Christa’s own horses, Razor, 20, and Jack, 14, have been with her for several years. “She’s been on Jack going on three years now, and they’re just starting to click,” says Crystal. “She’s had to work pretty hard to figure him out. He’s a free-running, fast horse!” The Williams also have two dogs, Bella and Cowgirl, two donkeys, five other horses, and cows. All of the family pitches in with chores, and Christa’s cousins, Trey and Kaedence Williams, are adopted into the family and enjoy traveling to rodeos and helping during practice.
An eighth-grader, Christa is homeschooled and enjoys science. “My dad and I got to dissect a cow when it froze. It was a little gross, but then I thought it wasn’t so bad.” She also likes to run, and helps her family at their Stockyard Café in the sale barn in South Hutchinson. Christa helps with everything from washing dishes to serving and running the register. She also passes the time between junior high rodeo season reading horse books — her favorite is Wild Blue: The Story of a Mustang Appaloosa — and competing in the Young Guns Timed Events, B&B Productions, and Barrel Bashes in the area.
Christa’s chief goal this year is to finish junior high rodeo with a trip to the NJHFR in Huron, South Dakota. “She’s running an older horse in poles, but they haven’t hit a pole all season, so they’re not the fastest, but they are very consistent,” says Crystal. “She’s starting a new horse right now, Jewel, to try and have something ready for high school. Jewel is a mustang, and we just started hauling her to some barrel races. She’s a really awesome horse, and it will be fun to show people that mustangs can do something too.”
