Horses, Ponies and Mules?! Oh my!

  Continuing to roll down the road to Jackson, I blazed a trail to the Dixie National Color Horse Bonanza, which included Palomino, Pinto, the American Ranch Horse Association, and the North American National Mule and Donkey Association!  I was asked to pass out awards for the Mule and Donkey part of the show alongside overall buckles for the Color Horse Bonanza. If you haven’t been to a Mule and Donkey Show before I HIGHLY recommend it! The community is absolutely wonderful and willing to answer whatever questions you may have! Along with passing out awards I was fortunate to compete in reining and halter with my guy “Gunner'' aka Gunnin by Starlight. We tied for a buckle and decided there would be more down the road for us and let my competitor take it home. I was just ecstatic to show my boy one last time before being busy on the rodeo road! 

    Coming from a horse show background, I get asked a lot; what the biggest difference is between horse-show-people and rodeo-people, and honestly, the people aren’t different- just how we go about competing is! There is the same camaraderie between competitors in both worlds. From watching horses and mules compete in English, western pleasure, trail, reining and timed events this was a weekend I will remember forever. The Mule and Donkey competitors were such a great group of people and one even let me take their mule for a spin! (I may or may not be looking for a mule to start riding next year!) 
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  While at the show I got to catch up with old friends, help encourage the youth I used to show with, and even make some TV appearances. My Paint Color horse ,“Princess” aka Casual Classic Style and I were interviewed by local stations covering the start of the Dixie National shows. It meant so much that I was able to attend as Miss Rodeo USA, and share my love of rodeo along with horse showing to the Jackson and South Mississippi areas. 

  After having a superb weekend congregating, competing and helping out at the show I made my way back home. I was so excited to finally sleep in my own bed! I was roughly an hour out of Jackson, when I stopped to get gas and a bite to eat, when my car started shaking all over and then turned itself off! I had a mini panic attack! My step-dad just finished up making sure my car was in tip-top shape... and I just killed my car! Thankfully, I had a dear horse show friend who lived close by and was willing to drive out and stay the night with me in a hotel. We got to talking and thought maybe I got bad fuel. We found a mechanic the next morning and he fixed me up! I was back on the road and home by lunch time! If you are ever wondering what a “normal” day in the life of Kylee Campbell is, you need to take out the word “normal!” Over the years of rodeo queening, showing, along with prepping and traveling for both I have learned not a lot goes as smoothly as you plan and things pop up that you may never, and I mean never expect! 

  After my weekend at the Dixie Color Horse Bonanza I had a bunch of scheduling and planning to do for my coronation banquet and celebration fundraiser. Not only was this event kicking off my reign as Miss Rodeo USA, but it also was on the SAME day as my birthday! The excitement, along with some stress that comes from planning any event, was building up. My horseback riding and training hasn’t stopped while I have been home either. Horses need to be kept in shape just like we do. The Friday of the weekend before my coronation banquet, I got a phone call from my “second mama” (my trainer and mentor since I was 9) about how we have acquired nine unbroke, never touched, essentially “wild” horses. I was told some might be pregnant and there were two studs with all of them ranging in age from 1-7 years old. All I could think was “where in the world are we going to put NINE head of horses at?!” I was told we would figure that out the next day because we had to get them Sunday. Then, I was asked, “are you in?!” Of course, I replied with, “heck yeah!” And the following Sunday four of us went off to wrangle wild horses! We rolled into the property and sure enough there were nine horses in a pasture. The part that caught me off guard was the fact there were nine MINIATURE horses in the pasture. Talk about a surprise! I was so confused and kind of relieved that it wasn’t full-sized horses! 
 
  We got out and wrangled them into a smaller pen, they were tiny but FAST little stinkers! After moving some panels and backing the trailer to the gate, it only took us roughly 45 minutes to get a halter on one and tie them off in the trailer. We then were able to push the rest of the mini’s up into the chute leading into the trailer but they busted the ties we had connecting the trailer door to a panel! We were SO close! All we could do was watch 7 of the horses run down the long driveway to the road. Talk about a defeat! We hopped into the gator and drove to the road where now all the ponies that got out we’re running around on the old highway. I had to jump out and chase a couple of them out of a ditch while somebody else stopped traffic! We got them back on property and after a few more trials and errors, we finally got them in a corral and into an old chute. We then got all the ponies on the trailer and took them off to the farm! We unloaded them and got them all cozied up in a catch pen with hay and water. The plan is to get all of them halter, saddle and possibly cart broke and keep a few for our therapy and lesson program. My trainer's husband is actually a rodeo clown and we’re even thinking of training one of the mini’s. Personally, I have taken a liking to that idea I’ve been calling one “Bam Bam” for his acts! 

  This past weekend we celebrated my birthday- I am officially the big 2-0 along with having my coronation banquet fundraiser. My sister drove down from Pennsylvania in a snow storm because she said she didn’t want to miss this event; in her words it’s bigger than her wedding! My mom, my coach for MRUSA, and my horse trainer all came together and planned my “perfect night”. My coach took care of the decorations, my mom the overall planning, and my trainer the catering. We had delicious southern style barbecue and sides with apple cobbler and cake! The venue was a wedding venue found by the West Point Pageant director and as my sister said it was nicer than her own wedding venue! Thank you to Charlie’s Vineyard at Frost Farms in Eva, Alabama for having us. The celebration was a night I will always remember. I had three outfit changes, gave my platform “Mentoring Matters” speech and my Alabama State Speech which touched base on my Spanish heritage! We then danced through the night, courtesy of Brent McCoy for being such a great DJ! The night closed with silent auction winners finding their bids and conversing with one another. Thank you to all who made it out, and those who couldn’t attend but donated- thank you as well!! The love and support mean more than you know. I can’t wait to see people down the rodeo road and make new friends to share my passion of mentoring and rodeo!