story by Lily Weinacht
I really like going to rodeos, and I like working with my horse and competing,” says Kade Harland. “When I win, it’s fun of course, but even when I lose, I think to myself, I’m going to get better and I’m going to keep working at it.” The 14 year old from Buffalo, Oklahoma, is currently leading the ribbon roping with his partner Kylie Bryant in the KJHSRA, and he also competes in breakaway roping, goat tying, chute dogging, and team roping with heeler Kacen Smith. “My two favorites are probably roping calves and team roping. There’s just something about the harmony of two people roping together and having to work with the horses. For roping calves, you have to depend on your horse a lot, and I really like that.”
Kade started his rodeo career when he was 8 on his mom’s barrel horse, Annie, who carried KHSRA members Beau Peterson and Kayla Olson to the NHSFR. “I’ve had a lot of success with Annie. My mom trains barrel horses and qualified for Nationals three times, and my dad ropes,” says Kade. “I have two little twin sisters, Olivia and Avyn, and my little brother, Jace, and my mom and dad, Kim and Marc. I love them to death! Olivia competes with me, and we like it when Avyn rides with us. Jace usually runs the chutes — we have a little arena right beside our house with a calf alley, and we’re all out there four to five times a week. Mom and Dad coach me as well as they can, and I owe them a lot of thanks. They’re what drives this whole operation.”
Kade attended a Joe Beaver roping school that came to his area several years ago, while he also looks up to high school seniors Beau Peterson and Logan Wiseman. “They’re really level-headed and can handle themselves in and out of the arena. I also want to thank Dr. Rick Olson, our veterinarian and next door neighbor, who takes special care of us.” Kade’s hard work in the arena earned him a place at the NJHFR for the first time in 2017. “I went in the breakaway, and I went to the short round and I was doing pretty good, but I missed my calf. I’m trying this year to go back and win it.” Kade also competes in the Young Guns Timed Events winter series, and he won a barrel saddle in the Oklahoma Northwest Junior Rodeo Association. His three all-around saddles were won in the Central Springs Youth Rodeo Association, Heartland Youth Rodeo Association, and a one-day rodeo in Borger, Texas.
Zeva, Kade’s 10-year-old breakaway and ribbon roping horse, came from the Peterson family, while he rides Pepper, a 16-year-old gelding, in the team roping and goat tying. “My dad bought him when he was just a colt from Pitzer Ranch, and he’s a really special horse, because all the kids in my family have learned to ride off of him. He’s really calm and gentle, and a really good all-around horse.”
When he’s not on the rodeo trail, Kade attends Buffalo Public School. An eighth-grader, he enjoys his math class, along with playing football, basketball, and baseball. His uncle Tim Harland is the FFA teacher at Kade’s school, where Kade has been learning land judging and plant identification. Following school, Kade is off to the barn to saddle horses and ride before dark. He enjoys hanging out with his friends or reading in any spare time that crops up, and he and his family often play games after dinner.
“I plan on qualifying for Nationals again this year in all my five events,” says Kade, who also plans to high school rodeo this fall. “I really want to win the all-around, and I feel that I can do it if I work hard enough.”
