The Purple Trophy

The Purple Trophy

Kaycie Olivera, Gr. 9

In 2013, my grandma hosted one of her keiki rodeos. I walked past the prize booth and a certain trophy caught my attention. It was a dark purple trophy with a golden horse on the top. The trophy was decorated with pictures of horses and barrels. “What event is that trophy for?” I asked my grandma. “It’s for barrels, if you want it you have to win it.” she responded. “I will win it!” I told my grandma and left for where my brother was. 

My brother was by our trailer tacking up our horses. I got nervous thinking about how I was  going to win the trophy. It was my first time riding in a big event like this alone without someone pulling the horse. My brother let me hop on my horse to practice and get her ready for the event.

I walked, jogged, and ran my horse in circles to stretch her. I practiced going around barrels and ran my horse around the barrels.

It was around lunch time when the barrel event started. Many girls were before me and I got really nervous. They were all so fast and I didn’t know if I could beat them. 

It was finally my turn. I got into the arena. Since it was my first time riding in a rodeo alone, I was super nervous and was scared I was going to be the slowest person.

I got to the starting area and got ready. The flag man put down the flag and my horse ran. We got to the first barrel really quick and made our way to the second barrel. I was scared, the wind hit my face. The hot, red gravel hit my legs. My legs hurt from the gravel hitting them., It stung. Time felt slower when I was riding. I made it to the second barrel and cleared it without knocking it down. I went to the last barrel and cleared that one too.

My horse started running back to the gate. I felt myself sliding off of her. I got scared. My dad started running to me trying to save me from falling. Suddenly my horse moved herself and caught me. I made it to the gate with the fastest time.

The keiki barrels ended and I ran up to my grandma. “Who won the barrels!” I exclaimed, Excited to find out if I won or not. “You won!” my grandma replied. I saw the purple trophy and the goodie bag and got excited. My grandma handed it to me and announced that I was the winner. I was super happy and got more into rodeo after that.