Rodeo pair heading to national competition

June 21, 2011

Cole White and Peyton Rose

Peyton Rose is heading back to Gallup, N.M., only this time the Deer Park teenager is bringing a teammate.
Rose, a freshman-to-be at Deer Park High School, qualified as a barrel racer at the Wrangler Junior High School National Finals Rodeo for the second straight year. She will also team up with fellow DPHS eighth grader Cole White in the ribbon roping competition.
The rodeo finals run from June 26-July 2 in Gallup.
Rose and White qualified for the national rodeo after placing the top four in their events at a series of rodeos last fall and this spring.
Rose, the Washington State junior high school barrel racer, took up the event when she was 8 years old. She currently works up to four days a week with her horse, “Friday,” to try to stay on top of the sport.
“Tight turns (around the three barrels) are the key,” said Rose, explaining her success.
Her parents, Roy and Rebecca Rose of Deer Park, are active in the Washington Barrel Racing Association.
Last year, she placed 16th at the Gallup championships, she placed 16th after completing the circuit in less than 17 seconds.
“I usually don’t remember anything that happens out there,” she said about barrel racing.
If barrel racing is fast, than ribbon roping is sub-sonic.
The event where the rider (White) ropes a calf and the runner (Rose) has to grab a ribbon off the animal’s tail.
The runner takes the ribbon and must run across the finish line which is 30 feet in front of the roping chute. The roper must at least touch the calf before the runner crosses the finish line.
A good ribbon roping team completes the task in the 8-second range.
For most of this season, White and Rose were competitors, but when Rose’s teammate, Cale McMillan, could not make the New Mexico trip, White, an alternate, was asked to fill the vacancy.
White, son of Brad and Clancy White of Clayton, will also compete in team roping and tie-down roping at the national championships. He is an alternate in the chute dogging event.
“It’s hot. It’s just like any other rodeo,”said Rose on her take on the national championship event.
White said his goal this week is to “work hard and try your best.”