A teenager from Crawford County is headed to the National Little Britches Rodeo Association Finals in Pueblo, Colorado next week. Brooke Franklin, 16, qualified to compete in barrels, polls, and sheep.
“I’ve been riding since I was four,” said Franklin. “It is a huge deal. This is once in a lifetime. I’m so excited,” she said.
Franklin practices with her horse Penny on Monday night at Hero’s Arena in Natural Dam. She will go head to head with hundreds of riders from across the country in Colorado. “I’ve always wanted to be in the Cheyenne, Wyoming rodeo and this is similar to that and it’s just as big, so I’m really excited,” said Franklin.
Franklin will be a senior at Cedarville High School in the fall. She spends hours each week at the arena working with Penny, who sometimes gets shy at the rodeos. “She is both excited and anxious actually. She gets very nervous. She dances. She goes side to side,” said Franklin.
Franklin says this is her first trip to nationals. She hopes to win big. “We’ll be in magazines, have our name out there,” she said.
Franklin’s family will drive to Colorado with the horses. The rodeo kicks off Monday.