story by Lily Weinacht
Kayse Winkle setting an arena record of 1.9 at the 2014 GCPRA Finals – Rodeo News
Rodeo audiences from the 2014 GCPRA finals may remember Kayse Winkle as the breakaway roper who set the arena record with a run of 1.9. Her time couldn’t be beat, and the 24-year-old from Queen Creek, Ariz., was named the 2014 GCPRA Breakaway Roping Champion.
Kayse’s first championship with the association is a result of tireless practicing, and the help of her friends and family. She began rodeoing when she was eight and continued on to college rodeo at Central Arizona College (CAC), where she developed her roping skills. “When I first started going to CAC, my mental and roping game wasn’t strong. Coach Joe Moody and his dad, Willard Moody, really helped me with my roping. Of course, my family has been my biggest fans, especially my parents, Susie and Derik Winkle. My dad roped when my sister, Heidi, and I were little, but once we started rodeoing every weekend, he pushed his roping aside to let us pursue our dream. Now that we’re out of the house, he gets to rope again.”
Kayse rodeoed on the CAC team for four years, serving as team captain for two of those years. While pursuing breakaway roping, with a little barrel racing on the side, Kayse earned three associates degrees. In 2014, she took several online courses with Northern Arizona University and graduated with her Bachelors of Business in December. She is currently working part time at a real estate office in real estate transaction, as well as working part time at an insurance office, filing paperwork and doing other secretary jobs. In addition to her part time work, Kayse is now serving her second year as the breakaway director for the GCPRA. She has been a member of the association for more than four years, and says, “It’s nice to be able to help out, and to be a part of the voting.”
The breakaway roper returns to her home in Florence every evening to teach breakaway roping and goat tying lessons. “We have our own arena and calves, so it makes it really easy to practice,” says Kayse, who ropes every day, often with her boyfriend, Tristan Mahoney, who is a tie-down roper in the GCPRA. The pair travels the Northwest in the summer, competing in the Northwest Professional Rodeo Association and staying with friends they have in the region. “We want to do the NPRA at least once more, and you can’t do that with a nine to five job, so we’re doing little things to make money. We’ll go at least one more year, then settle down and grow up a bit,” Kayse says with a laugh.
Kayse’s breakaway horse, Biscuit, is a nine-year-old dun mare that Kayse has been roping off of for the last three years. “It took us a while to click, and now that we are clicking, it’s really nice! She’s turned out to be one of the best horses I’ve ever had,” says Kayse, who trained the mare herself for roping.
Having graduated from college, Kayse feels the wide open possibilities of the future. One of her goals is to beat her personal best time of 1.8 in breakaway. “Just last year I started being fast like that, with three 1.9’s at various rodeos, and a 1.8 in the NPRA. I’ve seen a 1.7 and I was in awe, so that’s my next goal.” She concludes, “I’m a firm believer in the mental game and going into rodeo with a positive mindset. How good you’re going to perform is how good your mental performance is!”
