story by Lindsay King
If fellow NMHSRA competitors don’t recognize Amy Weich by her big smile, they certainly can remember her mount. “Magnum was a stud for about six years, so he is massive. He actually has really tiny ears and the tip on the right one is missing, so it makes it even smaller. Most people know me through him,” said the 17-year-old from Las Cruces, NM. It has taken some to time to truly jive with the barrel and pole gelding, but the struggle has been well worth the extra effort. “I have been riding Magnum for about five years now and we just get along really well. We both love poles more than anything else,” she said with a laugh. Amy started competing in cutting and reined cow horse this year, just to mix things up a bit.
“Between all four of my events, there are two completely different styles of riding. I knew some things about the cow events because I used to show; that helped a lot with my riding and the reining parts. But I have had to learn to read a cow.” Amy takes lessons from Josh Armstrong who has essentially taught her everything she knows about the two events. Once an avid goat tyer, Amy took up the cow events after being cleared from a basketball injury. “During a basketball game I turned funny after stealing the ball and I managed to tear my MCL, ACL and meniscus. It was a long recovery, I wasn’t cleared until this last September.” Though Amy was on a horse long before getting cleared, she missed the entire spring 2018 season. This effectively took away her shot at nationals last year.
It doesn’t matter what event Amy goes to nationals in, she just wants the opportunity to compete on the next level. “Rodeo first teaches you how to accept failure and that you can’t win all the time. But it also teaches you how to fix problems instead of giving up on them. It taught me how to strive for success in the goals I set for myself.” And strive she is. Amy took home the barrel racing buckle at the Socorro rodeo last fall, it’s a first-time accomplishment for her in the NMHSRA. However, she’s claimed plenty of buckles and saddles in 4-H rodeo.
Amy got started in the lead line classes at shows and rodeos. Her parents, Ron and Erin Weich, started taking Amy to gymkhanas at six and she started in 4-H rodeo at nine. “I competed when I was younger, but I wasn’t serious until my seventh-grade year. I competed in the NMJHSRA in eighth grade and loved it, but I really got competitive when I got into high school.” Rodeo truly holds Amy’s heart, but volleyball and basketball once took up some of the room as well. If she wasn’t blessed to be in this sport, she would certainly give the latter two an honest try.
Though her parents might not be well versed in the rodeo world, they certainly know a thing or two about animals since they are both vets. “My parents are so supportive of rodeo, if I want to try something they do anything they can to help me. My mom’s best friend, Jody Johnson, is the person I train with mostly. She has helped me get more competitive and to the level I am at today. She is kind of like my second mom.” Following in her parent’s footsteps, this St. Mary’s Catholic School junior intends to become a large-animal vet one day. Until then, Amy will simply enjoy her time in the NMHSRA. “The association is great and the people are even better. They are really organized and run every rodeo very professionally. I just love the environment they have created for us as competitors.”
