NSRA member, Jan Brown – Peter Hammer
story by Lily Weinacht
Jan Brown of North Platte, Neb., is a wife, mother, school teacher, and breakaway roper, and she uses every spare moment to pursue the sport she has loved since childhood. She and her husband, Bill, who just started tie-down roping again in the MSRA, along with their three daughters, Memphis (11), Clancy (9), and Phoenix (5), make a family affair of both daily practice and weekend rodeos. “During the summer, we rope three to four times a week in the morning. My nieces join in too. I had kids so they could run the chutes,” Jan says with a laugh. “We started rodeoing the first of June and we’ve been gone every weekend, either rodeoing or going to soccer games for the girls.”
Jan grew up in western Colorado watching her parents rodeo, and she joined them in the arena by the time she was six. Junior high and high school rodeo paved the way for her to college rodeo for University of Wyoming. During her four years there, she qualified for the CNFR twice in her events of breakaway roping, goat tying, and barrel racing. She met her husband at a college rodeo and moved to Nebraska after they married.
A member of the NSRA since the mid ‘90s, Jan has won the NSRA breakaway roping twice, along with the all-around title when she was barrel racing as well as roping. She also competes in the MSRA, winning their finals twice, and most recently bought her card with the KPRA, with 2014 marking her first qualification for their finals. “I just like to rope a lot!” Jan says simply. “I’ve been fortunate enough to keep having good horses – it’s easy to keep rodeoing when you have good horses. I always looked up to my parents – my mom, Penny Kysar, has always been my biggest fan. As far as rodeo heroes, Trevor Brazile is the best roper out there, and he believes in practicing, which is something I believe in. I practice a lot because I love to rope, and I’m fortunate enough to have good practice horses.”
The Brown family lives about 12 miles from North Platte, with Bill’s parents and brother living nearby. “I’ve been really fortunate to have great in-laws, Clark and Dorothy Brown,” says Jan. “They raise calf horses and every horse I ride is one they’ve raised.” This includes Soldier, her barrel horse that she now uses in the breakaway roping. Roping calves, cats, and dogs, round out the animal population at the Brown’s home, which is always a lively place.
Jan works at Applebees, while she is also a substitute teacher for grades K-12. “Other than soccer and working out a little, these horses are about all we do,” she says happily. “The girls also do 4-H, and one of them plays violin and guitar, but as they start rodeoing more, I’ll slow my competition down to go with them.” In the meantime, one of her favorite NSRA rodeos is in Sutherland, Neb. “I like those Fourth of July rodeos, and the fair rodeos with the carnivals,” she explains. She often travels with Bill, or NSRA barrel racer Kelley Hawthorne. “There’s not too many things I can’t live without when I’m travelling, but I do always have at least one of the kids with me. They help me out, and Memphis is good about staying awake and talking to me when I’m driving by myself.”
A proud mother and roper as she watches her family grow in the sport she loves so well, Jan concludes, “I just love to rope, and I want to continue being competitive!”
