story by Riata Cummings
Hailing from the small town of Goshen, Utah, Brylee Worthen is an eighth-grade rodeo cowgirl in the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association. She attends Tintic High School, and her favorite subject is reading. When she isn’t at school, she enjoys hunting, fishing, four-wheeler riding, and hanging out with friends.
Brylee is the daughter of Paige and TJ Wall and Weston Worthen. She is the oldest sibling to Paislee, Waycie, Layton and Waylon, and they enjoy riding horses and hunting as a family. When Brylee grows up, she would like to be a rancher with horses and livestock of her own.
Brylee has “always wanted to rodeo,” and remembers riding sheep as a little tike. She has been a committed rodeo competitor for several years, and now competes in the barrel racing, goat tying and pole bending. She especially enjoys the goat tying because “it’s something you can improve yourself on and show off your skill away from the horse.”
Her barrel racing and goat tying horse is Bandit, a bay gelding with “a sweet temperament, and he never gives up.” Brylee rides a paint mare named Rosie for the pole bending. The three of them have “come a long way since starting,” and Brylee is striving to improve with every run. She has started to place at the barrel racings she attends, and she is hoping to do the same at the qualifying junior high rodeos.
One of Brylee’s favorite rodeos is her hometown rodeo. “It’s the arena where I practice a lot, and I get to be there will all of my friends and community. There is nothing quite like it.” When Brylee isn’t competing at a rodeo, she enjoys watching the rough stock events, spending time with her friends and family, and “being surrounded by the rodeo people.” She loves that the UJHSRA “is a team all year round. Everyone helps each other out and cheers each other on.”
Brylee loves the George Strait song that says, “I ain’t here for a long time; I’m here for a good time.” It reminds her that, “we are supposed to have fun in life and enjoy it.” She would advise rodeo rookies to look at rodeo in that same light. “Try your hardest and put the effort in but remember that you don’t have to win to do a good job and be happy.”
Brylee’s parents, mother, father and stepfather, are some of her greatest role models. “They never give up on me or on anything. They remind me to follow my dreams and be the best I can. I want to be as outgoing as they are and be willing to help everyone like they do.” She would like to thank her parents, her family, her friends, her sponsors and her other supporters for encouraging her to chase her rodeo dreams. “Thank you for helping me and believing in me. It means more than you know, and I couldn’t do it without you.”
