story by Lily Weinacht
Emily Ward was the last to run in the short go of the Junior NFR junior barrel racing — and one of the last to find out that she’d won the world title. “Emily was fourth in the average going into the short go, and she wasn’t as fast as she wanted to be, but I told her she was in the top 10,” recalls Renee Ward, Emily’s mom. Renee was taking Emily’s horse back to the stalls when the dad of one of the other barrel racers told her the news, and the awards ceremony confirmed it. “It was pretty exciting because none of us knew!”
This was 12-year-old Emily’s first time competing in the Junior NFR, traveling 22 hours with her parents, Brant and Renee Ward, from their home in Miles, Texas. Emily qualified at a KKP barrel race in Waco, Texas, on her 13-year-old mare Ruby. “I’ve had her for almost two years, and she can run on any ground,” says Emily. “She’s fast — she runs on top of the ground instead of digging in.” While Emily has been competing since Kindergarten, the Junior NFR was the largest stage she’s competed on yet. “I was nervous, but I had to keep calm, so I just didn’t think about it too much. It was a lot of fun, and we also went to Sam’s Town every night and hung out with all of our friends.” She was 42.490 on three runs, ahead of second place by 0.022 seconds, and all told, Emily won a saddle, breastcollar and headstall, polo wraps, hay bag, Louis Vuitton purse, and a payout of $5,000. She has high hopes of running down the Junior NFR alley again this year.
Along with barrel racing, Emily competes in breakaway roping, pole bending, goat tying, and ribbon roping, and plans to try her hand at team roping soon. She enters AJRA, WTRA, and TJHSRA Region 10 rodeos. Her 17-year-old sister, Catlyn, high school rodeos, and she and her horse Roxy hold the world record at the AjPHA Youth World Show for the most world titles won — 23. “I tie goats on Roxy, but she does everything,” says Emily. “My roping horse is Fancy, and we have goats, dogs, cats, calves, and steers.” The sisters, who are the second generation of their family to rodeo, practice together, and their parents join them in the arena. Brant used to compete in team roping, and Renee showed horses growing up.
A seventh-grader at Veribest ISD, Emily enjoys her health and math classes. “We’re dividing percents and decimals, and in health we do a lot of projects on Olympic athletes. We do slideshows and make meal plans and workout plans. I’m doing one for Kerri Walsh Jennings.” Emily also plays basketball — forgoing a basketball game to compete in Las Vegas — as well as running cross country and track. “My family always goes to Mexico the week before school starts, and we enjoy going to rodeos with each other, and basketball games.” Their travels also took them to Fort Worth at the end of January, where Emily ran at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo for the second year. Her next stop is The American Semi Finals, which she earned a spot at through her win at the Junior NFR.
“Hopefully I can make The American this year,” she finishes, “and when I get older, I want to make it to the actual NFR.”
