Peyton Nichols sat astride a brown horse named TJ and urged the mare forward. The pair galloped into the arena before coming to an abrupt halt. In a motion Nichols has practiced hundreds of times, she kicked her leg over the saddle and hit the ground running, sending clumps of dirt flying in her wake.
Within seconds Nichols had reached her target. She flipped the goat onto its side and used a rope she held between her teeth to tie the animal’s legs. Then she backed away with her hands in the air and awaited the results.
Fourteen seconds — easily good enough to take first in the goat-tying event. She untied her knot and freed the goat, who seemed more annoyed than anything as he rose to his feet and stared at the dozen or so clapping spectators.
Nichols, a 14-year-old from Worcester, was competing in the state finals of the Vermont high school rodeo circuit, a relatively new and growing addition to the state’s youth sports landscape.
Launched in 2020, the Vermont High School Rodeo Association is the only one of its kind in New England and has grown from five athletes in its first year to 18 current participants. Any junior high or high school student can join, including those in neighboring states.
The season begins in August, takes an extended break during the winter months, and returns in the spring, culminating in the state finals, which was held this year on Saturday, May 30, at the Mill Brook Horse Farm in Wells.
The event marked the last chance for the athletes to earn the right to represent Vermont at nationals, which will be held later this month for junior high students in Guthrie, Okla., and in July in Lincoln, Neb., for high schoolers.
The top four point-scorers in each individual Vermont event qualify for nationals.
While they’re technically competing individually, the athletes say they root for one another all the same. “We’re still a team, just like soccer or basketball or anything else,” Nichols said.
They also credit the sport with helping them develop closer bonds, both with each other and their animals.
The team competes in four other events in addition to goat-tying. One, called breakaway roping, involves chasing after and lassoing young cows. Two others — barrel racing and pole bending — require the athletes and their horses to navigate obstacles. And the team participates in light-rifle shooting.
Nichols was the most accomplished member of the team this season, amassing the highest point total en route to qualifying for four events at nationals. (Vermont’s team began participating in breakaway too late in the season for anyone to qualify in that event).
She credited her interest in rodeo to her grandfather, Jim McDowell, who was a rodeo man for 30 years in upstate New York. He was on hand to watch her last Saturday and said he was proud to see her continuing the tradition.
“She’s smart as a whip,” he said.
So how does Nichols excel at rodeo events? “Go fast,” she said, with a shrug.
Nichols mother, Kathy, serves as a board member of the Vermont Rodeo Association, the nonprofit that oversees the high school team. She said the association started to offer goat tying and calf roping events over the past two years and hopes to introduce a handful of new events next season, which should help the team continue to attract new members.
Some Vermont kids currently travel far distances to participate in New York because the rodeo circuit there has already offered those events, she said.
Expectations for the team at nationals are usually tempered given the fierce competition. Several hundred kids compete in each event, including those from southern states where they get to compete year-round — sometimes on horses that can cost twice as much as a new Ford F-150.
“Some of the kids here are competing on our backyard horses that they’ve raised themselves,” Kathy Nichols said.
Still, how many kids get to say that their high school sport took them halfway across the country?
Among those who will be representing Vermont on the big stage later this month is Alexia Hosley, 14, of Danby, who joined the high school team two years ago after a childhood filled with horse-riding.
“All my bestest friends are here, and I like going fast,” she said.
On Saturday, she hoped that a solid showing would give her some confidence heading into nationals. She had just one problem.
“I keep crashing into the second barrel lately,” she said.
As she nervously awaited her turn, Hosley received a pep talk from Mitchell Nichols, Peyton’s father, an Alabama native who grew up around rodeo.
When her name was called, Hosley brought her horse to the starting gate, then took off toward the first barrel, which she cleared with no problem. She handled the second barrel just as easily, and, after rounding the third, she raced toward the finish line, her friends cheering from the sideline. She crossed the finish line in 17.7 seconds, the fastest on the team.
When Hosley brought her horse back to the waiting area, Mitchell Nichols was waiting. “You know what this means?” he hollered. “Pep talk at nationals!”
The eighth-grader shook her head, and a toothy smile filled her face.
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