story by Lily Weinacht
Wayne and Nickie Stoltzfus and their daughter, Karly, have seen much success in rodeo, but they give the glory to God and the credit to their horses. “It’s a team effort that goes with the horses,” says Wayne. “We’re very deep into Christianity and we couldn’t do this without God’s help. Your faith’s got to be strong, along with your family values and good horses. It’s showing up at rodeos with your family values and God in your work, and meeting people and intertwining with them.”
Wayne, Nickie, and Karly all compete in the American Professional Rodeo Association (APRA). While Karly, 17, is starting her fourth year with the association, her parents have been competing in the APRA since the mid 1980’s. Wayne, 44, was competing in rodeo from a young age, joining the PRCA when he was 12, having been grandfathered into the system by Mike Rhineer Senior. Wayne is a steer wrestler and team roper, serving as the steer wrestling director in the APRA. He won the steer wrestling in the PRCA First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo in 1995 and 2010, and qualified for both the First Frontier Circuit Finals and the AFR in 2014. It was an encouraging come-back after being sidelined by several broken ribs for the duration of 2013. Wayne has returned to competing with a renewed vigor, and he also works as an equine dentist and farrier.
Nickie and Wayne have been married since 1995. Nickie’s rodeo background began with her parents. Her mom was a timer for the APRA and her dad competed and served as a judge for the association. Nickie competed in barrel racing, goat tying, and breakaway roping, but today barrel racing is her sole event. She has competed in the WPRA on the First Frontier Circuit, having won the barrel racing on the circuit in 2010 and 2011, as well as winning the average three times. She put her competition on hold the last two years to ride colts and haul Karly to her rodeos, but plans to return to both the APRA and WPRA this summer. Nickie is also a teacher at Centre Hall-Potter Elementary.
Karly is a junior, working on her school from home through Agora Cyber Charter School. “I like biology and science. I want to go into the nursing field to be an RN (Registered Nurse),” says Karly, who is currently looking at several colleges. School and rodeo are her chief pursuits, although she does enjoy hunting with her dad. Today, she competes in barrel racing, breakaway roping, and high school goat tying, rodeoing in the APRA, NBHA, PHSRA, and IPRA. Lantern Lane Creations, a custom tack business, recently started sponsoring Karly. “My motivation to rodeo comes from the support I get, the horses I have underneath me, and a lot of faith,” she says. “I look up to my parents, and Sherry Cervi and Lisa Lockhart. My parents have taught me everything, as well as their friends Danny and Vicki Rinehart and Doug and Tip Kerstetter.” The support of these people came to fruition when Karly – out of 1,100 other youth competitors – won the Teen 2D Champion at the 2013 NBHA Youth World Championships in Perry, Ga., on her mom’s horse Wild Alice. She followed suit in 2014, winning the 1D New Member barrel racing at the BBR World Finals.
The family from McClure, Pa., credits their horses with much of their rodeo success. “I’m a firm believer that in rodeo, it’s not the kind of ability you have, but your mindset and good horses,” says Wayne. These horses include Allie, the mare that Nickie barrel races on, and Reese, Karly’s barrel horse. Wayne is steer wrestling off of Pistol, a gelding belonging to John Leinaweaver, and is currently seasoning his own horse, Hershey. Allie – Nickie’s mare – has been with the Stoltzfus family for 14 years. She came from Rick Jones in New Mexico and won the “Horse with the Most Heart” title on the First Frontier circuit in 2009 and 2010. The mare’s half brother is Reese, Karly’s barrel horse that she finished and formed a bond with when her mom decided not to compete on him anymore.
In addition to seeing the invention of their Turning Point Industry barrel take off, Wayne, Nickie, and Karly are unanimously working to compete in the APRA finals rodeo this year, and the All American ProRodeo Series Finals someday. Karly also plans to start rodeoing in the WPRA this summer when she turns 18. She hopes to be racing around the very barrels her family invented on the arena floor of the Thomas & Mack before she’s 21. “We set those goals, but it’s really not in our hands,” Nickie concludes, “It’s in God’s hands. You can set goals, but He’s going to lead you where you need to be.”
