story by Lily Weinacht
Sadie Sturman’s family has been ranching outside of Lusk, Wyoming, for the past 105 years, and rodeo—though not quite as far-reaching as their ranching history—has also played a part in their lives. Sadie, 16, watched her older brother and sister rodeo for several years before she started her own career, and their Uncle Kent was the general manager of the National High School Rodeo Association for 22 years. “I like the competition and the challenge,” says Sadie, who won the breakaway roping at Riverton this fall and placed third at Jackson Hole. She’s currently tied for seventh and eighth. “It’s not you against one other person, it’s you against everybody, and I really like that challenge of trying to be faster than everybody else. It’s really fun to travel and see different places and meet different people. Jackson Hole is definitely one of my favorites.”
While the speed of breakaway makes it her favorite, Sadie also enjoys heading in the team roping occasionally. In 2016, she competed at the NHSFR in the reined cow horse. “It was a sweet experience and having all the chances to compete. To be a part of it is pretty cool,” she says. Whatever the event, Sadie devotes a great deal of time to the practice pen with her family. Her parents, Mark and Heidi Sturman, often help coach, along with her brother and sister, Bryce and Jessie, when they are home. “I always go to my brother or sister if I have a bad run or something, and they give me advice on what I need to fix in the practice pen, and they give me pep talks. I use Jessie’s old college rodeo horse, and Bryce is in college at CWC and rodeos for them. We spend a lot of time roping together, so we take turns running the chutes for each other. I also want to thank the Man upstairs for all of his support and guidance through my whole rodeo career.”
Sadie rides her sister’s horse, Peaches, in the breakaway roping. Peaches and Jessie competed at the CNFR five years ago when Jessie rodeoed for Chadron State College. “Peaches is pretty sassy, and she’s got a good personality. She tries really hard and always gets me the shot I need. I use Jewel for heading, and she’s really nice. She was one of our ranch horses, and my dad started her for himself, but my horse got hurt, so I used her. She has a sweet first move out of the box, and I can always depend on her.”
Sadie is often on horseback helping her dad on their ranch as well. She forgoes high school track to help during calving season, and she also helps with branding and moving cows. She’s shown steers and horses in 4-H the last five years, along with pigs in 4-H and FFA. “Finding the right steer is definitely the most challenging, and making sure he gets the feed he needs to be market ready. One of the hardest things, I think, is the time commitment, because you have to wash and blow them out and clip them, and work with them so they trust you.” Sadie also does sewing in 4-H and prefers to work on beautiful but useful projects, such as a quilt, casserole dish carriers, and a variety of garments.
A junior at Niobrara County High School, Sadie enjoys her agriculture classes, especially shop, as well as art class. She’s currently working on a portrait of Chris Ledoux, and will start her basketball season at the end of November. “My goal for school is to keep my grades up, and I’m working really hard on my schoolwork to accomplish that,” says Sadie, who also plans to college rodeo. “One of my biggest goals for rodeo is to make it to Nationals in breakaway this year.”
