story by Riata Cummings
Tara and Darren Coughlin are the proud parents of 14-year-old Adilynn Coughlin. Their other children are Izzy and Junior, and together they spend a lot of time on the rodeo road and at Junior’s football games. They live in sunny St. George, Utah, where the red rocks of Zion can be enjoyed in beautiful weather year-round. Adi is an eighth grader at Dixie Middle School where her favorite classes include math and science. She plays soccer on a competition team and enjoys wake boarding, snowboarding, and four-wheeling. Outside of sports, the well-rounded girl likes to cook, craft, and is a high honor roll student. Eventually Adi would like to go to business school and become a professional business woman with the help of her father.
From a young age Adilynn enjoyed riding horses on her grandparent’s ranch and got her first horse at 4-years-old. By the time she was eight, she had competed in her first rodeo on the black and white paint, Oreo. Since that first show, the barrel racer has expanded her horizons and competes in the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association and National Little Britches Rodeo Association, in addition to local jackpots and rodeos. Her events include barrel racing, pole bending, ribbon roping, and trail, as well as doing quite a bit of rodeo queening. Her favorite is the fastest–barrel racing– and she enjoys the challenge of the rapid-fire event.
Adilynn still competes on Oreo and has since added others to her band. Neffi, a black mare, carried Adilynn to a 4th place finish in one round and 11th overall at National Little Britches Rodeo in 2017. Last year she started riding a new barrel horse, Staccs, but after a bad run and a broken leg he had to be put down. As any horseman knows, it takes time to learn the habits and quirks of any horse, so loosing one can be a huge set back. Adi is back to riding Neffi and trying to find another horse to compete with, persisting despite the challenges. Eventually Adilynn would like to run in RFD-TV’s The American and compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Rodeo has taught her how to work hard, in and out of the arena. She has learned the value of setting and accomplishing goals. Her dedication to her sport has helped her find success on many different occasions, including the Sherry Cervi Youth Barrel Championships where she was the reserve champion.
Her hero is Amberly Snyder, a barrel racer who overcame outstanding obstacles and defeated the odds by continuing to ride and rodeo after a paralyzing accident. She looks up to Amberly’s determination to do what she loves, even in the face of difficulty. Adilynn lives by the John Wayne quote, “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway”. She knows that the fear of failure, fear of pain, and fear of inadequacy often hold us back from accomplishing our dreams but if we go on despite those fears, focusing on the good, we will find the success we crave. Eventually, Adilynn would like to be remembered as a kind and courageous person, driven to succeed.
Adi would like to thank the Montano and Walchli families for all the knowledge and advice they have shared. She knows that rodeoing successfully requires constant learning and growth and being surrounded by generous people has been instrumental for Adi this past year. Adilynn would also like to thank her family, including her grandparents, for their support and encouragement. She is grateful for their loving guidance, and for the opportunity she has been given to rodeo.
