story by Siri Stevens
Elle Eagles was 7th out in the short go at the National High School Finals Rodeo. She and her gelding, Jag, ran a 17.047. “The girl that was sitting right behind me was fifth out, so I still watched pretty closely.” Her game plan going into the short go was a little different than normal – she pushed Jag a little harder on the first barrel. “We have a tendency to blow the first barrel so I usually let him set the pace – it worked. He was firing a lot quicker across the pen. I also went on the track and breezed him real quick and I think that jazzed him up a little bit.” As the 2017 National High School Barrel Racing Champion, Elle received several scholarships, buckles for her second go win and short go win and average win, plus two horse blankets and several other things.
The 18-year-old from Penrose, Colorado, has had quite the run with Jag. She has had the 10-year-old gelding from Devers Performance Horses for two years. “I’d only run him five times before he broke his leg last year. That happened right after I came back from breaking my arm.” Elle broke her arm falling on the ice. “It was a compound fracture and it required surgery – two bars and 13 screws in my left arm.” Then Jag broke his leg and he was out for a year. “It wasn’t a good year for me.”
She picked Jag because he was the easiest one for her to get along with. “He is stout and I get along better with big horses.” Jag is one of eight horses in Elle’s herd. She started competing when she was seven and competes in breakaway, goat tying, and team roping as a header. She likes barrels and goats the best. “I just started picking up the roping, so the other two are my better events.” She won Colorado State High School Rodeo this year in barrels and goats, and last year, she only qualified in poles because of the time she and her horse lost.
Elle will be a senior this year. She gives her horses the winter off and plays basketball. “I walk them, but that’s it. It’s pretty hard to get them rode when I get home from basketball and it’s so cold,” said the point guard. In the summer, she spends most of her time riding. She doesn’t have to do anything with Jag except keep him in shape. “I’ll go swim him in the canal we have close to our house.” Her goal this coming year is to keep herself and her horses healthy. When she graduates, she will go to college. Her older sister, Skylar, is now in college on a rodeo scholarship at Stillwater.
Mom doesn’t ride, but she hauls her everywhere.
