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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Cowgirl Wins Junior High All-Around

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      Twelve-year-old LeighAnn Scribner, using five horses during the course of the season, was recently crowned the all-around cowgirl at the New Mexico Wrangler Junior High Rodeo finals in Lovington.
    Scribner, a 5-foot-7 Edgewood Middle School seventh-grader-to-be, won the goat-tying event, was the runner-up in breakaway roping and finished third in barrel racing en route to winning the title on May 18. In the process, she qualified for the national Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo to be held June 30 through July 5 at Red Rock State Park's arena near Gallup.
    “I made the short-go in all six of my events except ribbon roping,” said Scribner, still brimming with enthusiasm during an interview Monday. “It's kind of cool to win the goat-tying and win the all-around, and it's real exciting to make it to nationals. I was real happy. I was amazed. There's going to be hundreds of kids competing from all over the U.S., Canada and Australia (at nationals).”
    Scribner, the daughter of Bob and Lisa Scribner, earned the all-around honor in her first year in the junior-high ranks.
    “I think she's the first rookie to ever win the all-around,” said her mother. “She was a nervous wreck before state finals. She said, 'Mom, I feel funny.' ”
    “During the short-go, I was nervous big-time,” Scribner added.
    LeighAnn Scribner is keenly aware that her horses contributed to her success. She can rattle off facts on and insights into each of her gelding teammates.
    Scribner rode Sic'um, an 18-year-old sorrel, to win the goat-tying. Waddy, a 20-year-old sorrel, and 22-year-old Dash, a brown, served her well in breakaway roping, and the brown Bandit, 9, did his job in barrels.
    “Goat-tying is pretty easy,” Scribner said. “You have to ride down to a goat that's tied to a stake. Then, you get off and follow the rope to the goat. Then you flank the goat and tie three of his legs. Then you get up and wait six seconds and hope the legs stay tied. Otherwise, you don't get any points.”
    “Sic'um started out as a roping horse,” Lisa Scribner said. “He's done a lot more difficult things so goat-tying is easy for him. He only has to work for five seconds in goat-tying.”
    Still, things can go wrong in the event. A cowgirl can find herself sprawled in the dirt.
    “I've fell on my face before (when dismounting on the run),” LeighAnn Scribner said. “And it hurts.”
    Cinco, a 7-year-old sorrel, was her mount in pole-bending. The duo placed seventh.
    Scribner rode Sic'um in team roping. She was afoot as the runner in ribbon roping while her cousin, Pace Blanchard, rode.
    “She's always had a little bit of a knack for it,” her mother said. “She has a lot of drive. She's always trying to do her best.”
    Patton, now deceased, was her first horse.
    “When I was real little, he'd reach through the fence to put his head on my shoulder,” said Scribner, who started riding at age 4 and began her competitive career as a 5-year-old. “He was a real sweet horse.”
    Scribner, an A student whose favorite class is P.E., will try to stay sharp in anticipation of the national finals.
    “My next rodeo is in Clayton,” she said. “It's a 4-H rodeo on Saturday and Sunday. We do like 13 4-H and eight junior-high rodeos a year. And we do a couple of rodeos that we have around here (locally) if we have time. I think I can do well in all the events (goat-tying, breakaway and barrels at Red Rock). I just try to do my best.”
    4th of July Rodeo
    The Moriarty Fourth of July Rodeo will be held July 4-5, beginning at 2 p.m. on the first day and 4 p.m. on the second day, at the city's Heritage Arena. But the annual event's format, including a change from a one-day schedule to two days, will be different this year.
    “What you had before was like a Gymkhana (youth) rodeo,” said Bill Howard, the first-year president of the Moriarty Heritage Rodeo Association. “This year, it's like a semipro event. It should be over before dark (on both days) so folks can shoot fireworks with their families in the evening if they want to.”
    Events will include bull riding, bareback riding, saddle-bronc riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, ladies breakaway roping, barrel racing and team roping.
    Entry fee for each event is $75. It'll cost $200 per team-roping pair.
    For information, call Susan Weyrich, the Moriarty association secretary, at 384-1300, or go to the Web site at www.nmrodeo.org.
    Other rodeos
    The Chilili Land Grant will host two ranch-type rodeos on July 27 and Aug. 17, according to rodeo club Vice President Juan Sanchez. Events will include bull riding, mutton bustin' and calf riding.
    The Chilili Bull-A-Rama was held on Sunday. Only one, instead of the usual two, will be held this summer.
    The remaining Mountainair Gymkhana youth rodeos are scheduled for Sunday as well as July 6 and Aug. 3. A makeup rodeo will held on Aug. 2. All start at 8 a.m.
    The Escobosa Riders Club will host ranch rodeos on July 6, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7, all at 1 p.m. The Torrance County Fair Junior Rodeo is slated for Aug. 9 beginning at 10 a.m. with sign-ups starting at 8.
   

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