story by Riata Christiansen
At a bareback riding school. Caleb Bennet once told his students to, “Aim for the moon because even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” These words struck a chord for ambitious Dillon Jacobs. Since he herd those words he has set big goals and worked hard to achieve them with the faith that he would be blessed with success.
Dillon is now an eighteen year old senior, and attends Valley High School. The hands-on learner enjoys his science classes, especially biology and physics because he gets to experiment. He also enjoys his welding and woodshop classes where he can use his creativity or build useful things. He is a member of the National FFA Organization and competes in the horse judging competitions. Outside of school, Dillon enjoys doing leatherwork, as well as shoeing and training horses. He enjoys watching the progress that young horses make as they learn to trust and obey. Spending time around horses and other animals is therapeutic for him, so he does it frequently.
Dillon is the son of Heidi and Swanny, and hales from Glendale, Utah. He enjoys the small, close community there. His older sister Tucker, 23, is living and working in Silver City, New Mexico on a ranch and as a veterinary technician. His mother works as a lunch lady at the school, and his dad is a full-time cowboy who enjoys hunting mountain lions. As a family they spend time working young horses, going on pack trips, and chasing Dillon’s high school rodeo dreams.
Thanks to his dad, Dillon has been around rodeo since he was a little tike, and started competing as young as four with dummy roping and ribbon pulling. By the time he was ten he was getting on bucking steers and yearling bulls. When he got old enough, he competed in the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association as a bareback steer rider, saddle bronc steer rider, bull rider, and team roper. His first year competing in the Utah High School Rodeo Association, he team roped, rode bulls and bareback horses. Through the years he has narrowed it down to bareback riding, and last year he finished in Utah’s top four and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo. This year he is working hard for the state title and another trip to the Finals.
Unfortunately, sometimes our greatest triumphs are accompanied by our greatest trials. At the second rodeo this season, Dillon’s horse kicked him in the head. He acquired serious injuries and rodeo was out of the question for a while. He had to sit on the sidelines watching his friends compete and gather points while he was healing. He fought back, spending hours alone focusing on what he needed to do. After his sister posted about the accident and said that he would come back with a vengeance. He even put it as his phone lock screen to keep him from dwelling and the negative and help him focus on the future. Although he is still working to regain strength and endurance, he was able to ride again this fall. He is currently sitting second in the state, and is pushing for that state title.
