‘Nobody was able to ride this horse before’

After her horse got injured, 12-year-old Kaney Hansen had to switch to Jesse, a horse she had as a backup.

While nobody believed in Jesse after Kaney had a hard time getting him to go through the training, she never gave up.

Now, they are both heading to the National Junior High Finals Rodeo (NJHFR).

NJHFR was established in 2004 by the National High School Rodeo Association to help embark young students in rodeo events, like goat tying, pole bending, bull riding and more.

Since then, every summer the best from each state and province qualify for NJHFR. The top 20 contestants at the end of the tournament will go through one more rodeo to determine the champion.

The Harvard native and Jesse will make the trek to Perry, GA., from June 18-24 to compete in the pole bending event.

“When I first won in the state, I was really happy for my horse because we had some troubles in the past,” Hansen said reflecting about her time training for the competition.

“This is a special, special horse and it takes a special girl to ride this horse,”Kaney’s mother, Kode Hansen said. “Nobody was able to ride this horse before.”

Hansen’s parents both said that in order for her to be able to get to this point, Kaney had to keep proving that she wanted to compete and she, along with her older sister who competed nationally in 2017, would travel all summer long with her family to competitions, rodeos and get involved in several organizations.

“Kaney competed in 10 rodeos in northern Idaho to prove herself in those district rodeos to know she was ready to go state,” Her father Richard Hansen said. “Now she is ready to go national.”

Although she said she is nervous, Kaney Hansen is overall excited and is “grateful for her parents for getting her here.”

“They’re the ones that guided me and really helped me through getting Jesse figured out,” Kaney Hansen said. “I have to owe it all to my parents.”

Kaney will begins competition at 9 a.m. on Monday and will be back at 7 p.m. on Friday.