story by Riata Christiansen
Not every small town can claim to be the home of a Utah High School Rodeo Champion, but Morgan, Utah has that privilege. Sayge Madsen lives there and is a senior at Morgan High School. She loves the friendly atmosphere of the community and revels the mornings she gets to spend surrounded by mountains. Her favorite class this year is the Veterinary Technician class, where they train to become certified vet techs. Sayge is an active member of her FFA chapter and shows steers along with some of the other members. She feels that rodeo and FFA are tied together by their agricultural roots and she recognizes and appreciates the use of horses throughout the history of agriculture.
Sayge is the second of four children. Her older sister, Aspyn, is serving an LDS Mission in North Dakota. Sayge also has two younger brothers, Hayz and Trygg. Their parents, Dave and Nicole, are responsible for their participation in rodeo. They spend nearly every weekend on the rodeo road, whether that be a high school rodeo or following the Mini Bull Series. Sayge’s father, Dave, rodeoed competitively in high school and continued after marrying Nicole. It wasn’t until Hayz gained an interest for riding rough stock that the family started to rodeo regularly, but now it’s their favorite pastime. When they aren’t rodeoing, they enjoy going to their cabin where they fish, hike, and ride four-wheelers.
Thus far, Sayge has had a successful rodeo career. In 2016, she was the Utah High School Rodeo Pole Bending Champion. She went on to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo where she finished fifth in the world. The next year she finished second in the state and made an impressive showing at Nationals. This year, she is working hard to qualify for the NHSFR yet again and hopes to take the title this time around. Perhaps more impressive than that, Sayge trained her own pole horse, Lexi. The sassy but talented horse was originally a cutting horse. After suffering a serious injury, Sayge helped her heal then set her to work on the pole pattern. This year, Sayge started training a barrel horse as well. Huck is what they call him, and he seems to be a different horse every day. Accompanied by her four-legged friends, Sayge practices regularly. She rides to her neighbor’s arena and works her horses on their patterns. Eventually, she would like to operate an Equine Therapy Center, where special needs children can have one on one interactions with horses. She would also like to qualify for the NFR on a horse she trains herself.
It’s evident that family is important to Sayge. She feels that her greatest supporter is her sister. Even though she is several states away, Aspyn takes time to email her some weekly encouragement. She reminds Sayge to keep pushing and is always cheering her on. Sayge’s hero is her dad, who is there after every run to congratulate and analyze. He coaches her, and helps her to improve, and never forgets to tell her good job.
If Sayge could advise a beginning rodeo athlete, she would remind them that every run is different. Some days your best places you in the top ten, but sometimes you leave a pole on the ground. The important thing to remember is that life goes on and the next run can always be better. This persistent attitude is evident in this inspiring high school rodeo contestant.
