story by Ruth Nicolaus
Hazen and Gatlin Martin are brothers and members of the Louisiana Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The two team rope together, Hazen as header and Gatlin as heeler. Both boys ribbon rope; Hazen tie-down ropes and chute dogs, and Gatlin breakaway ropes.
Hazen, who is fourteen, rides his Uncle Jarius Martin’s head horse, a sorrel named Guapo. For the tie-down, he rides his older brother Stranton’s horse, a mare name Chick.
He is an eighth grade student at Our Lady’s Catholic School in Sulphur, where the best part of the school day, in his opinion, is when students can go outside, during P.E. and lunchtime. He loves playing football and basketball during P.E., and when the weather is nice, eats lunch outside at the picnic table under the big tree.
His favorite teacher is his science and history teacher, Mr. Newman, because he’s funny, tells good jokes, and is nice.
Hazen competed at state finals both his sixth and seventh grade years and was Rookie of the Year in sixth grade. He represented Louisiana at Nationals in the breakaway in sixth grade.
Gatlin is a year younger than Hazen, and loves his heel horse, Spin, a bay mare who is eleven years old. For the breakaway, he rides his Aunt Lydia Martin’s horse, Copper, who has been to the National High School Finals four times, three of them with Aunt Lydia.
He is a seventh grader at Our Lady’s Catholic, where he loves being with his friends and learning new things every day. He enjoys math class, but isn’t a big fan of reading. His favorite teacher is his Aunt Ashley, also known in the classroom as Mrs. Martin. Sometimes Gatlin forgets and calls her by “Aunt Ashley” in school. She makes math easier to learn, he says.
Hazen and Gatlin both play football and basketball. Gatlin finished last year as the 2015 state champion breakaway roper and went to Nationals in that event.
The boys have two brothers: Stranton (16) and Ryden (9), and six sisters: Josie (11), Saige (7), Kinsley (6), Brenlee (4), Copelyn (2) and Stormie (15 weeks). They are the sons of Josh and Robin Martin. 
