New Year, New Rodeo

LuAnn Werdel, supervisor of the Rodeo Club. Photo by David Ladeaux '13. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

 New Year, New Rodeo

By David LaDeaux '13

It's now rodeo season at Red Cloud School and we are off to a great start with a new leader of the club.

LuAnn Werdel, the Dean of Students, is now in charge of the club. LuAnn was once one of the best female ropers in North Dakota back when she was in high school. She went to compete in the All Indian Rodeo Association (AIRA). LuAnn wasn’t afraid to ride bulls and bareback on horses. She told me that she had won MANY titles for ladies breakaway and team roping. Her specialty is in ladies breakaway- her best time is two seconds flat and her best time is only .5 seconds off the record.

There are eight students in the Rodeo Club as of last week. Daniel Kills Small and Wyatt Holiday are interested in bull riding.  Cody Janis wants to ride bareback, saddle, and ride bulls but he currently has a broken foot so he's out of commision for up to six weeks. If you're a high school student and you win a event, you usually get a saddle. If you dominate within the top ten, then you will be invited to go to the National Rodeo Event.

The Rodeo Club meets every Wednesday at the school to watch videos of all the different events in rodeo. “But as soon as it warms up outside, we will be at the arena in Pine Ridge to start practicing the events that the students are interested in,” said LuAnn. Out of the eight students in the club, three have never rode horse or even been to a rodeo.

LuAnn said that she will be taking the students to 3 Mile Creek for a rodeo school in April and also to Chadron State College in March. “It's an opportunity to get to know our background as a Horse Nation and it helps them stay focused in their schooling,” said LuAnn. “When I was in high school, rodeoing was the motivating factor that kept me in school and competing. My whole family rides horses and rodeos."