story by Lindsay Humphrey
As the heat turns up on the sport of breakaway roping nationwide, so does Lindsay Tibbs’ consistency in the event in the NMHSRA. She’s starting to get her skills honed it and really enjoying her time in the booming calf roping event. “I really love roping, but I also love my other events (barrels and poles) too, but breakaway is my favorite,” said the 16-year-old. “All the other events rely heavily on you and your horse, but I think breakaway is more about my skills alone.” Lindsay is planning to take up team roping in the near future, following in the footsteps of her father, Larry Don.
“My dad team roped when I was younger, and I have a lot of friends that do it also. I started roping the steer dummy and it was a lot of fun, so we started dragging the dummy around the arena and I decided to give it a try on one of my dad’s horses.” As Lindsay learns the finer details of the event, she’s also teaching a horse how to head. That’s slowing her progress down, but Lindsay’s hopeful they’ll be able to compete sooner rather than later. “I’d like to start competing this spring or at the start of next fall for my senior season at the latest.”
Generally, Lindsay and her siblings¬¬ (Emily, 24, and Ethan Don, 11) have always been astride Larry’s old rope horses. “When I first started rodeo, I stole my dad’s old rope horses and turned them into barrel horses.” As those rope horses got older, it was time to find a step-up mount. That horse came in the form of a 3-year-old that, at the time, didn’t know much about rodeo. “She’s my pole horse now and she’s really starting to be good. I’ve had to really work with her and ride her every day. She’s shown me that if you want something, you just have to go get it. It takes a lot of sweat and work.”
In the fourth grade, Lindsay started homeschooling through an online program. This provided her with a unique opportunity to bond with her parents (Larry and Kristen). “We talk a lot. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m homeschooled or not, but we have a great relationship. I can talk to them about anything.” The same goes for Lindsay’s older sister, and all three of them have been known to provide advice when needed. When Lindsay first started homeschooling, she was still playing some sports with the public school. She had her friends through that, but rodeo has really helped Lindsay blossom. “I’ve met a majority of my friends through rodeo. I really started being more social because of rodeo. That’s helped me not be quite as shy as I used to be.”
In fact, once Lindsay gets to talking it can be hard to get her to stop. “I’m very shy if you don’t know me, but if you do know me I can kind of ramble on about everything and you can’t get me to stop talking once you know me.” That fact holds true for Lindsay just before it’s her turn to barrel down the alley or back in the box. “I normally get really nervous, so I have to be doing something fun before my run so I’m not so tight that I can’t do anything. I tend to hang out with my friends and not think about my run too hard.” Although Lindsay’s won plenty of buckles and a few saddles in rodeo, her biggest accomplishments have nothing to do with awards. “I’m really happy with the horses that I have and that’s a big accomplishment to me. And I have a good friend group and a great family. They’re all very supportive and I know that, through experience, God will take care of everything. And I think those are big accomplishments.”
