story by Lindsay King
Addee Carder simply followed in the footsteps many traversed before her; those of her grandparents, parents, Bob and Shawn, and sister, Kylee Jo. The Miami, Oklahoma, cowgirl had little desire to pursue anything but a solid cow horse and a breakaway loop. “They had breakaway roping at a junior rodeo and my dad figured that I might as well enter if we were going. I liked it better than anything else, so I have just stuck with it,” said the 20-year-old. In the eighth grade, Addee quit playing basketball and the following year she was done playing softball. It was time to focus on rodeo full time for Addee.
It paid off for her in 2013 with a trip to the Indian National Finals Rodeo in the breakaway roping. She took home seventh in the average. In 2016 she was third in the average. Though she’s proud of her accomplishments on a national stage, Addee considers it a good year of rodeo if she makes the ACRA finals. She’s made an appearance five of the past six years. “I absolutely love the people in the ACRA. The rodeos are good and fairly close, but the best part is how the breakaway girls are just one big family. We all stick together.” They stick like glue, in good times and in bad ones. For Addee, that bad time came in 2017. “I had not won a check in a long, long time and I was really close to quitting. But my sister convinced me to go to two rodeos over a weekend in June.” Addee split first in Owasso and took home all the marbles in Pryor. Though she said it isn’t always smooth sailing, it’s her support system that pushes her through it every time.
“My parents and my grandparents have all been big influences in rodeo for me. My dad and papa are always in the practice pen with me. During the summer my papa will come in at six in the morning and ask if I want to rope,” she recounted with a laugh. Her other grandpa, whom they call Dodo, gave her a 15-year-old gelding called Whiskey. “He is my baby. He was supposed to be a barrel horse but he looked like he could rope off of and we needed another rope horse.” The rest is history for this duo. Whiskey is multi-talented as Addee tried her hand at heading, competitively, at a college rodeo this fall. The Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College sophomore and her heeler were only five spots out of making the short go at the Southeastern Oklahoma State University rodeo. They now team rope at college rodeos regularly.
It comes as no surprise that Addee’s favorite ACRA rodeo of all time is Rodeo Miami. Her dad has long been involved in putting it on, but it is also the rodeo where family and friends flood into town and her house. “Usually we have a house full of people that are competing at Rodeo Miami. Not to mention the added money is great.” As the 2019 rodeo season gets into full swing, Addee is looking forward to the ACRA season being extended in the fall. The finals are now scheduled for January 2020. “It is going to be a great deal for the competitors because it will extend the regular season out enough that we can all keep competing and they can add more rodeos to the schedule.” The million-dollar question for Addee is: what do you want to do when you graduate? Her dream is to open an equine therapeutic and rehabilitation center in Miami, complete with a horse swimming pool.
