As Beckett Stock prepared to compete in her seventh Roy Pioneer Rodeo on Saturday, Aug. 31, she gazed up at Roy Elementary School peeking over the hill from the arena. The 19-year-old barrel racer from Roy often sat in school as a child and was mesmerized by the arena, hoping to compete there one day.
Her eyes wandered to the bleachers, where dozens of young girls dressed in their best cowgirl outfits cheered her on, just as she cheered on the cowgirls from the bleachers as a child years ago. Stock remembered everything it took for her just to be sitting on a horse in the arena she grew up enthralled with, including an experience that nearly ended her career.
On May 15, 2022, she was riding her gelding, Yahtzee, in preparation for an upcoming rodeo when her saddle slid back 5 inches, throwing her back cinch into her horse’s flank and causing him to respond like a bronc. Yahtzee launched her 10 feet into the dirt head first, cracking her helmet upon impact. Stock immediately suffered swelling and a throbbing sensation to her head, and she later learned she had broken her cheekbone and had internal bleeding in her head.
“Thank God I was wearing my helmet because I wouldn’t be here today at all,” she said. “It was really traumatic, and it took about two years to come back from that. It was hard to just go out there and not be scared of another wreck.”
Stock said she has been around and involved in competitive horse racing since “my mom was carrying me,” and she began competing in rodeos three years ago. Her mother participated in playdays and other equestrian events but was not involved in the rodeo sphere. So the fear of being on a horse was brand new for Stock as she felt most comfortable around them, especially Yahtzee.
“I’ve had Yahtzee for almost five years. I got him as an unbroken 4-year-old, and so I had to start from the ground up with him,” she said. “He’s taught me a lot, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without him. People wouldn’t know my name if it wasn’t for him. He is an absolute machine when it comes to his job.”
It took the help of her friend and fellow racer Brittany Swanson to fully regain her confidence and to compete again. Stock said Swanson pushed her to jump back in the saddle.
“She was like, ‘Get on your freaking horse and just go do it.’ I’d be out there crying in the area, and she’d slap my leg and be like, ‘You better go out there and win it,’ and I did,” Stock said of Swanson. “I went out there and I took second at a really big race, and it slowly brought me back. I just had to tell myself that it’s going to be OK and pray before my runs just so I could feel OK.”
Stock holds the Stewart’s Arena barrel racing record with a 13.5-second run and once held the T90 Ranch record with a 13.965. Last year, she took fifth in the Roy Rodeo and ranked 12th in the Pacific Northwest by the National Pioneer Rodeo Association. Now that her confidence has returned and she is undaunted by the track, she has set high expectations for herself.
“What really motivates me is getting to the top 15 of the world. I’m hoping one day I’ll be up there in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, but it’s gonna be a while,” Stock said. “There’s always room to learn and improve. Another thing that motivates me is one step forward, 10 steps back. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. And if you’re not failing, you’re not learning.”
Stock’s return to the Roy Pioneer Rodeo was without her trusty gelding Yahtzee, as he is recovering from a severe injury after he ran into a low-hanging limb that pierced his head. She rode a horse named Jasmine, with whom she had experience as an adolescent. While she didn’t quite match her performance from last year’s rodeo in her hometown, she appreciates the opportunity to compete and represent her family on the stage on which she once dreamed of competing.
“It’s amazing. It’s a blessing. All my hometown supporters and my friends and family, it means so much that I even have this opportunity that my mother has given me,” Stock said of competing in the Roy Pioneer Rodeo.
While at the rodeo, Stock also makes sure that she takes time to interact with young cowgirls in the crowd to give them the experience she wished she had as a child.
“I ask them if they want to pet the horse and I answer questions because all of those little girls want to be one of us in that arena, and it’s very important to me to be on my best behavior,” she said. “Even if you do have a bad run, suck it up because those girls are gonna see your reaction, and you want to be a leader. Seeing all these little cowgirls and cowboys looking up to all of us, it gives them that motivation that I wish I had when I was little. I wish those cowgirls were out there talking to me and answering my questions.”
