Sisters are national rodeo champions

Sisters McKayla, Jacqueline and Lydia Lucas recently competed in the National Little Britches Rodeo in Guthrie, OK, with more than 1,100 contestants. Each of the sisters came away with a championship at the July 4- 10 event that included a brand new saddle, many buckles and a $1,000 college scholarship.

“One would have been great,” said their mom Laura Lucas. “Having that all in one family, it’s awfully hard to get.”

She and her husband, Rich, raised their children with a love of horses at their rural home between New Prague and Jordan. What began in 4- H, blossomed into rodeo competitions beginning in 2010. At the 2016 national competitions at the Lazy E Arena, the largest indoor rodeo arena in the world with a main arena floor of 440 feet-by-160 feet, McKayla, 19, won in Senior Girls Pole Bending; Jacqueline, 16, won in Senior Girls Barrel Racing and Lydia, 9, won in Little Wrangler Pole Bending.

Besides the three sisters, their older siblings, Allison and Sam, have also competed. Sam was the first one to win in 2010 as the Little Wrangler Pole Bending World Champion. That was the year the family joined Little Britches, a youth rodeo for children ages 5-18. At the time there was no Minnesota chapter so the family loaded their gear and horses up every other weekend and drove three hours to practice with another family. In 2011 Laura formed the Little Britches Minnesota chapter, with two friends from South Dakota. She runs the group and organizes their rodeos in the state. The family also doesn’t have to travel very far to practice these days as they have a riding ring on their property.

“I’ve been riding since I....

To see more on this story pick up the September 1, 2016 print edition of The New Prague Times.