story by Skylar Wright
Staheli might be young but she doesn’t let that stop her from competing against the best. The 12-year-old from Cedar City Utah had made it to nationals as a 6th grader and ended up in the top 50 by the end of it and hopes to make the short-go next year.
She competes in goat tying, breakaway roping, pole bending and barrel racing. The youngster has been rodeoing and riding horses since she was 4 years old. “I’ve grown up on a horse, I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have them.”
Her mom, Ashlee Staheli, rodeoed growing up and competed in a number of events such as breakaway, goat tying, pole bending, barrel racing and team roping. “My mom is one of my biggest supporters, she always pushes me to do my best.”
The upcoming 7th grader is on the honor roll at Canyon View Middle School. She plans on being a dental hygienist one day to follow in her aunt’s footsteps.
While Staheli competes in a number of events her favorite is goat tying. “I’m good at goat tying and it comes the easiest to me.” Her goat tying horse, Freckles is her favorite horse she competes on. “I trust him and he’s fast,” she said.
The family stumbled upon Freckles through a rodeo friend. “I fell in love with him and I just had to have him. He’s been apart of the family ever since.” Along with Freckles she also has Smash the breakaway horse and Lena the barrel and pole horse.
She has a younger sister who is only 2 years old but she hopes that she wants to rodeo as well. “I think it would be fun to have my little sister go to rodeos with me when she is old enough to compete.”
She would like to thank her family and those who have helped her along the way. She knows it takes a lot of hard work from her family to get her to rodeos. She is very determined and is keeping her sights set on making the short go at nationals as a 7th grader.
