By Lindsey Whelchel
Kraig and Sloan Clawson fell in love and started a family with no rodeo background and no plans to be involved in horses.
Now, they and daughter Roxanna “Anna,” are fixtures in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association.
Though Sloan grew up showing horses, she didn’t have any by the time she married Kraig, who was not familiar with the animals. Sloan works as a first grade teacher at a Christian academy, and Kraig works the family business. “When my husband and I got together we had no intentions of having a horse life. How it all started was my parents gave our daughter a horse for her birthday,” Sloan laughs recalling the gift of a welsh pony when Anna turned 6. Unbeknownst to the Clawsons, the mare had a surprise colt not long after.
“Her dream was to ride that pony in the after harvest parade, and so my stepdad and my husband had to get the colt leading, and my husband walked [Anna] up and down the dirt roads riding so many times, it was just amazing,” Sloan recalls fondly, saying of Kraig’s beginnings as a horseman.
“Kraig knew nothing. He learned everything just from talking to people and reading and watching, and that is how he has grown. He has just been so wonderful.”
The horses were no doubt a blessing at a time when the family would need a happy endeavor. That same year in June after the colt was born, Sloan was diagnosed with breast cancer. She credits Kraig with taking charge in helping mold Anna’s riding experience since she couldn’t because of her health. Thankfully, Sloan has long been cancer-free.
Now their two older sons, Kody and Kane each have children of their own, and the family has continued to pour their hearts into the Western way of life.
Initially, Anna did performance horses but focused her attention to rodeo around 11 or 12 years old. She’s a senior now in high school and has been competing in the KHSRA with plans to college rodeo next.
“It has been a wonderful thing in that we’ve met so many friends. It’s a great family atmosphere. We’ve got friendships all over the state, and I think that rodeo teaches kids responsibility, winning , losing. It teaches them to work hard,” Sloan says adding, “faith plays into that, utilizing the gift that God has given you and the resources that He gives you to be able to manage all of it.”
Faith is a strong part of the Clawson family’s work with the KHSRA. They facilitate the crisis fund alongside the Sunday church services held in conjunction with the rodeos. They have help from preacher, Cory Young and worship leader, Brant McGee.
“We take a freewill donation at the service, and we use the money for a crisis fund [to assist a KHSRA member] that has a need. That is the highlight for me being able to help in that way,” Sloan says.
Sloan has loved being able to support the kids in the KHSRA and work on some boards and as a secretary in other rodeo-related groups.
Anna is enjoying her last season in the KHSRA, and as for Kraig, he is helping wherever he can. “He’s an event director. He just works wherever he’s needed. He just loves to help the kids and interact with the kids. He definitely has a heart for service,” Sloan says proudly.
It would seem that first pony was the perfect gift for the whole family.
