story by Lindsay Whelchel
Louisiana High School Rodeo Association senior, Morgan Matte, who is graduating this spring, plans to one day become a lawyer. It’s a profession that relies on solid communications skills, so it’s a good thing that she’s spent her life learning to communicate with her rodeo teammates, which happen to be horses, that don’t speak English.
“I think really it’s just the relationship you have with your horses. It’s a partnership [with someone] that doesn’t speak your language, so there are different ways you can communicate. It’s just really special,” Morgan describes when asked what the rewards for her chosen path in the sport of rodeo have been.
It was natural that Morgan would gravitate toward her four-legged friends. Morgan’s grandparents were involved in cutting and the racehorse industry. Both of her parents competed in college rodeo, which is where they met, and the rest is history.
Now days, Morgan’s mom owns her own pharmacy and her dad is in the oil business, but Morgan and her sister Taylor have carried on the sport of rodeo as members of the Louisiana Junior High School and then Louisiana High School Rodeo Associations.
Though Morgan has been involved in other sports like basketball, cheerleading and volleyball, she soon focused all of her attention on rodeo, and she’s learned a lot.
“It’s taught me a lot of humility. Sometimes things just don’t work out, sometimes you’re just not going to get there, but you just have to keep working at it, trying and eventually the hard work is going to pay off,” she said.
The lesson is one that can transcend the rodeo world to other aspects of life. And Morgan has been busy this semester preparing for that next step, graduating high school and attending Louisiana State University in the fall where she’ll major in English and likely minor in economics.
Throughout her future academic plans, rodeo will remain constant, Morgan assures. Already, she’s looking forward to state finals and qualifying for nationals, a feat she’s accomplished her entire high school career.
She credits a whole team of people as her support system. “We get behind each other. It’s a group effort,” she describes of her family, thanking Taylor with helping her get with her pole bending horse and keeping the horses tuned up.
Morgan also thanks her trainers who have helped her throughout her rodeo career, trainer Melanie Broom and Andrea Cline for their help with barrel racing and Bo and Tammy Bouget, her cutting trainers.
