stories by Magie Downaire-Nevius
Brit Haskell
Haskell and Peterson Jr High Nephi 2014 – photo by Diane Garcia
Brit Haskell is the 2014 Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association Rookie of the Year.
The 14-year-old cowboy, a resident of Payson, Utah, competes in the chute dogging, ribbon roping, tie-down roping, and team roping.
He relies on two horses for his rodeo competition. Judy, a seven-year-old sorrel with a star on her head, is his heading horse, and Freckles, a nine-year-old sorrel with red specks on his blaze face, is his tie-down and ribbon roping horse. Judy, who was trained by Brit’s dad, is an “amazing” horse, he says. He can tie-down rope, heel and head off Judy. “She can do about everything.”
Brit is an eighth grade student at the American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork. He likes school and he likes his teachers because they “are really nice and really help a lot.” His favorite subject is history; if he could go back in time to meet someone from the past, he’d choose to meet George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. Science is his least favorite subject. He gets good grades in it, but “I just can’t get along with it,” he says.
In his spare time, Brit likes to play ultimate frisbie in his school’s football field during lunch. He and his dad also rope at a local arena, the Arrowhead Club, most Thursday nights.
When he grows up, he’d like to be a radiologist, because his dad is a nurse and he has a compassionate heart. He’d also like to compete at the Wrangler National Finals in the tie-down or team roping. His favorite cowboy is Trevor Brazile, because of Trevor’s good attitude and because he tries very hard.
He competed at last year’s state finals in the tie-down roping, team roping and ribbon roping. He is thankful for Del Christofferson and Dan Shaw for allowing him to rope in their indoor arena, which has helped him improve.
Brit has four siblings: sisters Cassie, 21, and Savannah, ten, and brothers Branham, fifteen, and Luke, age nine. He is the son of David and Dorthy Haskell.
Beau Rees
The Rees family dinner table is usually supplied with beef, or game the family has gotten themselves.
Beau Rees, middle child and only son, loves to hunt.
The 13-year-old cowboy, a member of the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association, hunts deer, moose, elk, pheasants and chuckars, and anything he (or any other family member) kills, goes to the dinner table. Hunting birds is the most fun, he says, and of all the game, moose is his favorite to eat.
Beau Rees
Beau, a team roper, tie-down roper and ribbon roper, heads for Gus Christensen and his runner is Chloe Kump. He rides a 20-year-old sorrel quarter horse named Gus for all three of his events. Gus has a big heart, Beau says, and lots of try. The harder Beau tries, the harder Gus tries. “It seems to me,” Beau says, “he can feel it when I’m just messing around, and he can feel it when I’m tense” and ready to compete.
As an eighth grade student at Clark N. Johnsen School in Tooele, Utah, he loves math and P.E. class. He plays football, baseball, and shows steers in 4-H.
Beau’s nickname is Gus, given to him by his dad even before he was born. He likes to think it’s from Gus, the character on Lonesome Dove, not the mouse from Cinderella. With his own nickname, a horse named Gus, and a team roping partner whose name is Gus, it can get a little confusing!
When Beau grows up, he plans on continuing his education through college. Then he’d like to rodeo, be a welder or mechanic, or a veterinarian like his grandpa.
He competed at the state finals once in the fifth grade and under division, and twice in junior high.
He has two sisters: Lauren, who is 21, and Madey, who is nine. He is the son of Roger and Kathy Rees.
Rhett Nebeker
Rhett Nebeker breakaway roping – photo by Jesica Peterson
You never know who you’re going to run into at a gas station in Elko, Nevada.
When Rhett Nebeker and his family stopped to fuel up, Rhett’s rodeo hero Trevor Brazile was there. Trevor took the time to visit with him, and Rhett got to see Trevor’s family and his traveling partner.
It wasn’t the first time the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association member had run into his hero. He got Trevor Brazile’s autograph at the National Finals Rodeo in 2012, and had his picture taken with him as well.
And just like Brazile, Rhett is a roper. He competes in the team roping, breakaway, goat tying, and ribbon roping. He rides two horses: Duster, a 14-year-old dun for the team roping and goat tying, and Big Mama, a 13-year-old palomino mare for the breakaway and ribbon roping.
As an eighth grade student at Roosevelt Junior High School, he loves math and weight lifting classes, but socializing is his favorite part.
For fun, the Cedar View resident likes to hunt, fish, ride horses, and spend time with family.
When he grows up, he’d like to qualify for the NFR in the tie-down roping or team roping, and ranch with his dad.
He qualified for state finals his sixth and seventh grade years in both the breakaway and the team roping, and credits his grandpa, Jim Nebeker, for always supporting him.
He has two older brothers, C.J., who is 22, and Dustin, age 18. He is the son of Chris and Lori Nebeker.
