story by Kyle Eustice
Born in Newport, Arkansas, but raised in the Folk Music Capital of the World, Mountain View, 22-year-old Gigi Robey was introduced to rodeo by her entire family, most notably her grandfather, Toby Nesbitt, who was a team roper, and her father, Andrew Robey, who roped, as well. Along with her two sisters, Jessica Vance, 34, and C.J. Elumbaugh, 28, Gigi started running barrels on the same pony, Gus, when they were little.
“All three off us won our first belt buckle on him,” recalled Gigi. “I started competing in junior rodeos and horse shows at age 6, doing barrels and poles. Eventually, I moved up to a big horse and bigger rodeos, then dad got me into team roping and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
After graduating from Mountain View High School, Gigi attended college at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri with a partial rodeo scholarship and was on the rodeo team for two years. Now based in Batesville, the mother of Rixon, 2, and Ryder, 4, is heavily involved in the ACA, where she is the breakaway director and routinely encourages other women to join.
“I mostly just rodeo with the ACA these days,” explained Gigi. “I joined when I was 14 and ran junior barrels. Now I compete in breakaway, the 50+ and women’s team roping. I originally joined the ACA because it was the closest association to home. Now I like ACAs because they can be competitive, there is plenty to go to throughout the year, they have very good rodeos, and it is somewhere to go that pays pretty well without having to drive all over the country.”
Fortunately for the busy 20-something, most of the rodeos are within an hour of her house and never over two and a half hours away. She raves about the finals every year, which always come with good prizes and plenty of extra money.
“I also love the people,” said Gigi. “The people I have met through ACA rodeos are very good people, who treat me like family.”
Between breakaway and heeling, Gigi can’t decide on a favorite. She admits she’s extremely competitive with breakaway and works hard at it, but heeling is more relaxing for her.
“I don’t have any major accomplishments, yet,” said Gigi. “I’ve made ACA finals five times—three times in breakaway. I feel like I still have a lot of room for improvement. I’m still learning a lot about roping.”
Eventually, Gigi hopes to make the IFR, which is her ultimate goal. Beyond that, she wants to sharpen her roping skills, which she understands takes a certain type of personality.
“I think it takes a lot of hard work and dedication,” explained Gigi. “”You have to practice when you don’t feel like it and work at it constantly. You also have to have a lot of confidence in your talent to compete well, that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from rodeoing so much. You get your confidence from the work you’ve put into it and it shows at rodeos. If you back into the box thinking you’re going to miss, you will miss.”
One of Gigi’s horses, Lil’ Spot, has been her main horse through everything and she started riding him 10 years ago. She also broke a young colt, Blondie, who she is currently trying to season. Above all, she loves the adrenaline rush she gets from competing on them, and of course loves when she wins.
“I love when the flag drops after a good run and you feel so happy about the run you’ve just had,” said Gigi. “Every part of it is just amazing.”
