For the first time in Silver State International Rodeo Finals history, a Canadian came home with gold in the junior high school goat tying event.
Ardmore’s Lakota Bowers has been goat tying since the age of four, and has enough experience to win first place in the 2018 international competition.
The 14-year-old said it was focus, practice, and sheer luck that landed her the top spot against 68 competitors.
“My mindset was to keep focused and keep my goats down, because that was huge,” Bowers expressed. “The draws were all different, and your only chance of making to the top 15 was to keep your goat down for the two days.”
Bowers made it into the short round, with a collected time of 25.8 seconds.
Her final and tournament winning time was 31.2 seconds, with the second place winner clocking in at 38.8 seconds.
She described her win as unexpected.
“I was blown away. I wasn’t expecting it.... I didn’t even think I would make it to the short-go,” Bowers expressed.
Bowers’ mom Tracy was overflowing with pride.
She said her daughter worked hard to even land herself a spot in the finals, let alone win first place.
“It was amazing. She went down there and said ‘I’m going down there to win.’ It’s pretty tough down there, but I hoped she would do well. She really focused and was determined the whole week. She was up at 6 a.m. practicing.”
The competition took part in Winnemucca, Nevada earlier this month.
In order to qualify for the Silver State International Rodeo Finals, Bowers had to prove herself on a provincial and national level, and in the end, a handful of Alberta goat tiers made it to the competition.
Bowers said it’s the adrenaline rush that she loves most about goat tying.
“Every time you go into the arena you feel the crowd, you feel the pressure and it’s just so exciting. It’s the luck of the draw whether or not you can tie the goat,” Bowers expressed.
She added, “You have some hold your breath moments down there.”
The goat has to stay tied and down for at least six seconds, and your horse can’t touch or cross the rope during the run.
Regardless of the scope of the arena she was participating in, Bowers managed to shut out the sound of the crowd, for the most part.
“I tend to block people out when I run so I don’t hear them, but in that arena, there were a lot of people and you could still hear them. People had cowbells and you could definitely hear them,” described Bowers.
But rather than let that distract her, Bowers used it as motivation.
It wasn’t only about bringing home a win. Tracy said the competition was also a great opportunity for Bowers to perform in front of a large crowd and meet other tiers from across North America.
“The first night she competed, she was the second last one out. The girl after her was missed on the draw, so she didn’t know she was competing,” Tracy described.
The young participant didn’t have a horse, hat, or rope when she was told she was up next.
“Lakota told her that her horse would come back to the gate and she could just jump on... She went out and ended up third on Lakota’s horse. That shows the camaraderie between the kids and that everybody is there for each other, which was nice to see.”
Throughout the competition, the girl’s family could be heard cheering for Bowers.
Now that she has an international win under her belt, Bowers plans on continuing to build off her of success through high school.
Bowers said, “I hope to make it back to Silver State again next year.”
