stories by Ruth Nicolaus
Hannah & Hailee Smith
People just might do a double take when they look at Hannah Smith.
That’s because she has a look-alike at the Utah Junior High School Rodeos, her twin sister, Hailee.
Hannah and Hailee are identical twins, who look so much alike that their teachers, and even their dad, can’t always tell them apart.
The thirteen year old cowgirls, who live in Syracuse, Utah, compete in the barrel racing and pole bending. Both of them were runners in the ribbon roping last year, but not this year.
Hannah rides a ten year old buckskin mare named Sadie for her events. Sadie doesn’t always enjoy being around other people, and hates going down the alley. Hailee helps her sister out when it’s time to get Sadie down the alley.
Hailee rides an eight year old gelding named Dan for her events. Dan loves his cowgirl; all she has to do to catch him is whistle, and he comes trotting. He loves to lay his head in her arms.
The girls enjoy working with their trainer Jaime, who has helped them train their own barrel horses, which is very rewarding to them.
The girls are eighth grade students at Legacy Junior High School. Hannah loves science class, and Hailee loves lunch, where she can socialize with friends. Hannah loves to read, so much that she calls herself a “reading freak.” Science fiction is her favorite genre, and she can be known to read two books a week. Hailee enjoys reading horse books. Hannah plays softball and runs track, and qualified for districts in the 100m hurdles last year. Hailee would have competed in track, but broke her ankle and had surgery to insert three screws in it.
The girls have naturally curly, poofy hair that they don’t enjoy taking care of, so they like to cornrow their hair and hook extensions in it. Hannah usually does burgundy colored highlights, and Hailee does blond highlights.
The teachers love it, because it helps them tell the girls apart. When the girls were in the first grade, they decided to trick their teachers by switching classrooms. No one knew the difference, “till our kindergarten teacher busted us,” Hailee said. “We thought it would be cool.” When they were babies, their dad, Todd, couldn’t tell them apart, so because their ears were pierced, Hannah wore diamond earrings and Hailee wore pearls.
The sisters are very close, says their mom, Robin. “I always refer to them as little old ladies,” she said. “They might bicker at each other, but they’re best friends.” Hailee said, “We need each other, even though we act like we don’t.”
The one thing that may cause the girls to fight is clothes. Sometimes “we don’t know whose clothes is whose,” Hailee said, and if it’s cute, and they both want to wear it, it can be a problem. Then, if it causes a fight, neither girl wears the outfit.
When Hannah grows up, she’d like to be an anesthesiologist. When Hailee grows up, she’d like to be a large animal veterinarian.
Both cowgirls have qualified for the Utah Junior High State Finals. Last summer, Hannah finished in the top fifteen in the ribbon roping, and Hailee finished in the top fifteen in the barrel racing.
Kali Fabrizio
Kali Fabrizio and her brother and sister love to have cupcake wars.
They make cupcakes, any flavor, and then decorate them with sprinkles, marshmallows, frosting, or gummy worms. They are decorated “crazy,” Kali says. “We just go with whatever.” And thank heavens for her dad, because he eats them no matter how they look.
Kali, a member of the Utah Junior High School
Rodeo Association, enjoys cooking and can make grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna fish, and loves to make cakes, which her family devours.
When she’s not in the kitchen, she can be found in the rodeo arena, competing in the barrel racing, pole bending, and breakaway roping. Of all her events, barrels are her favorite. Her barrel horse is a twelve year old mare named Jess who Kali loves. “She’s like me,” she said. “She’s cute and funny, and she likes it when I ride her. We just click that way.”
Kali is in the eighth grade at Tabiona School. Her school is small, with 180 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, but she loves it like that. Her mom is a bus driver and the librarian, and it’s taken her a while to remember to refer to her as Mrs. Fabrizio instead of “Mom.”
Kali plays basketball and volleyball, and is a member of the Inter-Mountain Reining Horse Association, She is also a member of 4-H, where she enjoys showing horses and pigs and sewing. Several of her projects, including pajama pants, sweatpants, an apron and a satchel, won ribbons at the Duchesne County Fair.
She enjoys hunting and fishing, and when she grows up, she’d like to be a pediatrician.
She was the 2015 Miss Duchesne County Rodeo Princess and the Duchesne County Open Horse Show Champion. As show champion, she earned a hefty certificate to a local store, where she purchased a beautiful bracelet.
She has an older brother, Wyatt, who is fifteen, and a younger sister, Sicily, who is ten.
She is the daughter of Jed and Robyn Fabrizio.
