story by Lindsay King
Not many meet their husband on a private jet, even fewer get to fly a plane solo. For Huron, South Dakota, native Jill Hins, that is exactly the case. “I have always been a barrel racer. In the early years, my brother and his buddies were my traveling partners. Those were some good times. I met my husband Ron because of my brother. He was his pilot occasionally and I went along to watch my brother compete.”
Ron and Jill met in 1977 and were married in 1981. “Up until four years ago, my husband was a private pilot. We traveled a lot as a family in the plane, so it made sense that I should know how to fly it if something ever happened to Ron.” A ranching family, Jill and Ron run cattle and farm some hay on the side. “Ron is also a livestock dealer, but the ranch has been handed down through his family. We run a lot of cows, so we have quite a few calves in the spring. Working at the school is like a vacation from home for me sometimes.”
Jill graduated from South Dakota State University in 1976 with a degree in elementary education. She has worked at Huron Middle School for the past seven years. “I have gone back and forth between teaching and being an aide in sixth, seventh and eighth grade. I am an academic interventionist this year. Mostly I help kids try and catch up to their peers. Some days are more interesting than others.”
The mother of Tater and Lindsey, both in their thirties, Jill boasts three grandchildren: Charleigh, 8, Talley, 7, and Tatyn, 10 months. “When you leave college and start a family, you kind of get out of rodeo. It was about four years ago that I found the NSPRA. It is truly something else to go out and compete at our age like this.” A goat tier and barrel racer in college, Jill now only runs the clover leaf pattern.
“I was fortunate enough to make the NSPRA finals in Las Vegas in 2014 and 2015, it was quite something to compete at. This spring I was lucky enough to win my ninth saddle in the United Barrel Racing Association.” Five years ago, Jill won a saddle in her age division in the NBHA and all saddle winners were put in a drawing. “They drew my name and I won the use of a horse trailer for a year. It was kind of like driving a billboard around, but it was really neat.”
Despite all this, her proudest rodeo moments come from the stands. “Ron and I brought both our kids up in rodeo. I remember being in Casper, Wyoming, for the CNFR when Tater came out in the billowing smoke as the bull riding champion. That was just one of those moments that took my breath away. It was my love of rodeo that I passed down to him that made it that much sweeter.”
Her oldest granddaughter Charleigh, is now Jill’s full-time traveling partner. “She goes to most barrel races with me. We go to a lot of big races and she holds her own. At 8 years old, she does not know how much she has accomplished already. It is phenomenal that rodeo has come full circle in my life and I get to compete alongside my granddaughter, not many people get that opportunity.” Jill jokes that she is excited for when Charleigh can split the time behind the wheel in their travels. Outside of rodeo and ranching, spending time with her grandchildren is something Jill cherishes the most. She also likes to go for walks and read when she has the chance. Her rodeo goals for the year include making the NSPRA finals. “I would like to qualify for the finals because they are in Oklahoma and that is a lot closer to home and I don’t have go through the mountains. The best part about the NSPRA are the people, they are wonderfully helpful. It is like another family.”
