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PatchWork
by Joyce Whitis |
Cheyenne Wimberley NFR Qualifier
Joyce Whitis
Cheyenne Wimberley is a slim, light haired beauty who turned 22 on November 10. To stay in top shape, she works out on a Nordic Trac, supplemented by early morning walks. This is her third year at Tarleton State University where she is ranked a senior. Dietitian is her major and she hopes to become a physicians assistant after college. Plans in the immediate future include a week in Las Vegas with the most important male in her life. After that it's back to the Tarleton campus and the little place she recently bought a few miles out of town.
Who is this attractive young woman in jeans and concho belt with the big silver buckle? Who is this most attractive male who will go with her to Las Vegas in December? And why is this all happening? Cheyenne Wimberley is the young barrel racer who has just blown away the competition by qualifying for the NFR (National Rodeo Finals) in Nevada next month. April Hemp is the 13 year old male who will be her partner in the contest, he being a gilded quarter horse and her most reliable ride for the championship barrel race.
"I got April from a 16 year old high school girl in Andrews. She'd had him for five years and I'd watched him run the barrels but he wasn't for sale. She decided to give up rodeo and, well, I just got lucky and was able to buy him. I won first place the very first time I rode him and I've placed or won with April every time since."
Wimberley began running barrels when she was just three years old and has been competing ever since. An only child, she says that she has been running barrels "forever" and in fact, riding a horse is one of her earliest memories. At age four, the little cowgirl won the New Mexico State Championship, riding her mom's horse that she had trained to barrels.
She continued to win events in rodeos around the state, claiming saddles and belt buckles. As a member of the American Junior Rodeo Association, Cheyenne Wimberley, then a high school junior, won the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma. "That is a very big rodeo," Cheyenne said. "I got second in poles, and 2nd all-around. I got $4800 in prize money which is a lot for a high school kid. I was very excited."
Her parents, Christi and M.L., have always been "horse people" in El Paso, where Cheyenne was born and grew up. Christi Wimberley trains barrel horses and rides them in the futurity. She starts the 4 year olds and sells them to those interested in barrels. M.L. is a team roper but his main business is transporting quarter horses.
After high school, the Wimberleys picked Vernon Regional Junior College for their daughter's education and participation on a college rodeo team. " I got a full ride (full scholarship)," Wimberley said, "and I enjoyed school and the competition. I came from a very small private school and it was easy to adjust to this small college and the classes and professors."
After Vernon, it was on to Tarleton State University and the rodeo team. "This region pays more than any other region in the state and besides I really do like Bob Doty," Cheyenne said. "He is the Tarleton Rodeo Team coach and a very fair person also a fine coach. We all really do like Coach Doty and would do anything for him."
"I am really excited about Cheyenne going to the NFR," Doty said. "She is a hard worker and very appreciative of everything you do for her. I am sorry that she had to drop out of school this fall but I understand that she will be coming back next semester. Cheyenne has a lot of talent, is really dedicated and is a fine person."
Cheyenne's barrel horse, April Hemp is known as an "easy keeper". "You can bring him home from a rodeo circuit, turn him out, give him grain and hay, and he keeps himself in shape by running and bucking around the field." Wimberley says that he stays sound, (without injuries) and that he never sees barrels until they ride into the arena in competition. "Some girls are out there every day practicing their run but I don't do that. April knows what to do so we just go do it."
"100,000 miles of travel in the back of a trailer during the season, is hard on a horse," the young barrel racer said," and I want to let him run free when I get the chance. There is another horse, a backup that is always carried along to rodeos just in case. Johnny High is such a horse. He is a "Derby horse" or a 5to 6 year old. Wimberley trained him herself and she takes him along to ride when the placings aren't paying a lot , or the turf is bad, or she wants to let April rest.
The standard pattern for barrel racing is 60 feet from the eye(electric eye that begins the race) to the first barrel, 90 feet from the first to the second barrel and 105 feet from the second to the third barrel. In most of the northwestern states, Oregon, Washington, Montana.....those in charge make a strong effort to set the pattern according to the standard. In the southwestern region the pattern may be different at each and every arena.
"Houston rodeo is in the Astrodome and the barrel pattern is extremely small in that very large arena," Christi Wimberley, Cheyenne's mother and traveling companion relates. " We got there and we'd heard about the Astrodome of course but then here it is...it's so big! It is overwhelming."
"The arena in Las Vegas sets a very small pattern and besides the first barrel is hidden behind the chutes so the horse can't see where he is supposed to go until you are out there. A lot depends upon the barrel horse. My dad has said that you can take a monkey and put him on a barrel horse and win an event! My horse knows his stuff and he is a healthy horse. Both of us have stayed free of injury this season, helping us to do well."
"I just feel so lucky that everything sort of came together this year for me. When I go to Vegas, I'll do my best and so will April and whatever comes our way will....come our way. Whatever will be, will be! I'm not really nervous. I'm thrilled to get to go and I will do my best. If it happens, it happens."
Cheyenne Wimberley and her parents seem to have a good hold on this world of theirs. The parents have provided a strong family life and their daughter has given them a spark in their lives that also ignites the world of rodeo. The PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) recognizes one event for women and that event is barrel racing. At the National Finals Rodeo coming up in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas, Cheyenne Wimberley and her outstanding horse April Hemp, will have the opportunity to add more awards to the more than 30 saddles and piles of belt buckles previously won and now stored at her parents' home in El Paso.
In just 22 years, this attractive young lady has collected awards and memories enough to last a lifetime, however there are always more worlds to conquer. The new season began last week with a very large rodeo in Kansas City so mother and daughter packed up the trailer, which is complete with living quarters, loaded the horses and were on the road headed to yet another rodeo.
Then it's back to Stephenville, rest a few days and head out to Las Vegas.
For the Wimberley family, it's a good life.