Wright City’s Charleigh Ferrell is entering high school with a big notch on her belt from a sport she’s been training in since 4 years old.

Ferrell, now 14, took state champion prize in pole bending this summer at the Missouri High School Rodeo Association’s junior high finals in Ashland. She would have rode that victory to a national championship competition in Des Moines, Iowa, if not for the coronavirus.

This was Ferrell’s first state championship win since starting in the competition three years ago.

“It was exciting. There were 20 or 30 girls in pole bending, and we were going head-to-head,” Ferrell said. “We might be leading by 2 points, and then the next round we might get knocked down to fourth place. It was hard competition.”

Ferrell’s achievement in this year’s state finals was also forecasted by her performance in the two previous years, where she placed high enough in state finals events to make the nationals competition in Huron, S.D. Ferrell rides in barrel racing and goat tying competitions, along with pole bending.

Rodeo riding is a sport with relatively few competitors in the area, but one that takes a lot of dedication. Doing well requires having both a good rider and a good horse to work with, Ferrell explained.

“Their speed, their ability to get around the barrel or pole fast, or just run fast in a straight line,” all matter, she said, adding that the horse has to be trained for each competition. Ferrell spends up to four hours every day working with her family’s horses.

“I like being around the horses. It’s fun to ride them and train them,” she said. And she said the people she meets at competition are also a plus.

“I enjoy the sport with Missouri High School Rodeo Association because of all the friends there. ... People who understand the sport, and we can have conversations.”

Before a competition, Ferrell said she tries not to overthink things, but has to mentally adjust to the ability level of different horses. Bigger events with better competitors motivate her to do her best, but also more nervous, she said.

Ferrell’s love of the rodeo sport is an inherited trait that her parents introduced her to as a small child. Her father, Ben Ferrell, said he started riding bulls at 15 years old, and met Charleigh’s mother, Adrienne, along the way. Charleigh was their first child.

“She grew up around horses,” Ben said. “We started going to competitions when she was 4 years old. They were just small level, just to have fun and compete.”

As Charleigh got older, they started taking her to more events as her father was winding down his own rodeo career. He said every event is a chance to get young riders introduced to the generation currently competing at the top levels of the sport.

“It’s a great event for anybody to do. ... Getting them out of the house, enjoying nature, and having the responsibility of taking care of an animal,” Ben commented. He said seeing Charleigh do well “is an awesome feeling. There’s no other way to describe it. ... To see (her) win after putting in hours of practice is always nice.”