story by Ruth Nicolaus
At the suggestion of a good friend, Daniel Taylor began his Colorado High School Rodeo Association career last fall.
The Greeley, Colo. cowboy is friends with bareback rider Peyton Schaefer. The two met at an X2D Ranch Ministry event, and hit it off. Peyton told Daniel he needed to compete in the high school association, and that’s how Daniel got his start.
At eighteen years of age, Daniel is a senior, getting his schooling through an online school. Attending school online allows him to work during the week. He’s very good at math, having finished the high school math requirements in the eighth grade.
But reading is a different story. In sixth grade, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He had always struggled with English classes, and his mom suspected he had the disorder. After testing, it was discovered he had it.
He’s able to keep up in school because of a tutor. The tutor “has helped me to stay ahead and relearn how to read and write,” he said. To work around dyslexia, he uses text-to-speech a lot. While reading, he plays the words on the screen as he reads, “because it helps me to hear them.”
Daniel understands the benefits and drawbacks of online schooling, since he’s been doing it the last two and a half years.
His advice? “It’s really easy to get behind when you’re online, because there’s not a teacher that talks to you every day. But if you stay ahead, it’s easy.”
His mom plays a big part in his online schooling “She monitors my grades and makes sure I don’t fall behind.” Daniel is able to put in plenty of hours at his job, because of his flexible school schedule. The biggest disadvantage to online school is “you don’t get the chance to have a one-on-one relationship with teachers, if you need help.”
He will team rope this spring with Peyton, who is ranked second in the bareback standings for the state.
“I peer pressured him,” into roping, he said, and because of Peyton, Daniel is going to ride saddle broncs this spring.
Peyton tried to get him to ride barebacks, but it didn’t work; Daniel doesn’t like the idea of his hand wedged into a bareback rigging.
He gets on practice horses on Monday nights at the Double Check Arena in Eaton. “We have a bunch of older horses that we ride, and a bunch of people who have ‘been there, done that,’ that help us and coach us along the way.” He loves bucking horse practice. It’s $40 per head, “and I’d gladly spend my last $40 to get on a bucking horse. They’re fun.”
His team roping horse is an old barrel horse he’s trained. He calls her “Glue Sticks,” but his mom, who told him that’s not a nice name, calls her Fancy. The sorrel mare has turned out pretty well and does anything Daniel asks of her. “There’s definitely better rope horses but she knows her job, she does it well, and she doesn’t get hot. I like that about her.”
Daniel’s favorite holiday is Christmas, because of the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. The best meal his mom makes is gumbo; the best meal his brother, a really good cook makes, is burritos, with homemade tortillas. Daniel loves Dr. Pepper, and the best trips his family takes are to north Texas, where his grandparents live. It’s “way too hot” there, he says, but while he’s there, he ropes with his cousin and goes to Chicken Express and Whataburger, two of his favorite places to eat.
He has six siblings: 26; Andrew, Jazmine and Mysti (each 20 years old); Hannah, 19; and Twyla, 14. He is the son of Larry and Kim.
He loves high school rodeo. “I like the traveling around the state and I’ve met some pretty good people.”
