story by Ruth Nicolaus
Rodeo has been a wonderful thing for Tayla Jo Covington.
It has helped the thirteen year old cowgirl, a member of the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association, keep her grades up, and has given her focus and dedication.
Tayla Jo, who lives in Dammeron Valley, Utah, competes in the barrel racing and pole bending and hopes to add goat tying this spring.
She and her family moved from American Fork in August, and now she has an arena and a place to keep horses. It’s been a good move, she said. “I really like it here. It’s quieter, and I have my own arena and my own ranch. I’ve made a lot of new friends. It’s been good.”
Tayla Jo is an eighth grade student at Dixie Middle School. She loves P.E. class because she likes to be active. “I like to get up and move around and not be stuck in a classroom all day.” She also enjoys science class, for the experiments. “I like seeing different things react to each other, like explosions,” she laughed.
She is on the honor roll at her school and competes in the Washington County Barrel Racing Association and the Southwest Barrel Racing Association.
She loves to be outside, which includes camping, fishing and hunting. The family often camps at Bear Lake Reservoir, Strawberry Reservoir and Flaming Gorge Reservoir. They usually stay in their RV, but if she had the chance, Tayla Jo would sleep in a tent.
Tayla’s dad says that rodeo has been a blessing to the family. She struggled with her grades, and rodeo has given her a reason to keep them up. “To see her dedication,” has been good, her dad said. “I don’t have to tell her (to do schoolwork); she does it all on her own.”
When she grows up, Tayla Jo would like to be a lawyer.
She has two younger sisters, Lily, who is ten, and Joey, age eight.
She is the daughter of Kyle and Emilee Covington.
