story by By Lily Weinacht
Rodeo is running through its third generation of the Rambat family, and eight-year-old Tallie Rambat is making her own bootprints in the family sport. Introduced to rodeo by her parents, Jace and Kendra, and 12-year-old sister, Kassidy, Tallie has been competing for four summers, and she’s entering her second year in the KJRA. “I like it!” says the cowgirl from Medicine Lodge, Kansas. “I like spending the night at the rodeos, and the KJRA is the only place I get to compete in the dummy roping.” She also competes in barrel racing, pole bending, and goat tying, but barrel racing is her favorite. “I like running really fast!” she explains, “and I love riding my horses. I also like playing with my friends and seeing family at the rodeos.”
Her grandparents, Royce and Jan Rambat from Bird City, Kansas, and Rod and Mabel Boots from Ashby, Nebraska, support her and come to as many rodeos as they can, while Tallie looks up to world champion barrel racer Lisa Lockhart. “I got to meet her last summer at a high school rodeo in Martin, South Dakota. We were there watching our cousin compete, and we took pictures with Lisa Lockhart.” Another highlight of Tallie’s 2016 summer was winning all-around cowgirl at the Cherokee Roundup Club in July. She won her first all-around title in the GHYRA.
The Rambat family makes their home in Medicine Lodge with their dog, Lola, four horses, and two goats. “I like swimming, riding bikes, and playing basketball,” says Tallie. “Kassidy and I play games together, and we ride horses and practice together in the morning when it’s cool.” Unfortunately, Tallie lost her old horse, Sorrely, in the fall, but this spring she’s running barrels and poles on her horse, Boomer. Boomer came from their friends the Koppitz family in Alva, Oklahoma. Tallie will also be tying goats on a horse she calls, Black Jack. Jack came from her great-uncle, Tom White, in Nebraska.
The sisters are coached by their parents, and also take turns watching their one- year-old brother, Radley. “Radley is a really good baby, but it’s been a huge adjustment,” says Kendra. “When we’re practicing or at the rodeo, everyone has to take a turn holding or chasing little brother. Tallie’s job is brushing horses and putting on their boots, and someone else is saddling while the other watches little brother. It’s kind of a three ring circus, but it’s all worked out! Tallie is a very good big sister – she’ll sit in a lawn chair and play with Radley while I help Kassidy with tying her goat, and I’m sure this summer he’ll be riding with the girls.”
Tallie just finished second grade at Medicine Lodge Grade School. “I like math,” she explains. “We get to do addition and play math games and work problems. I learn a lot!” When she’s not playing with friends, Tallie practices roping the dummy with her dad in the backyard. She’s preparing for her summer of KJRA rodeos and never leaves home without her black and yellow whip, which she fittingly calls her bumblebee whip. “My goal is to win a saddle,” Tallie finishes, “and I want to win the girls goat tying this year in the KJRA.”
