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Macee Kay Steigleder, seems like your
typical cowgirl -- all decked out in jeans, boots, and a huge belt
buckle that she earned as a barrel racer. She handles her 1,200 pound
horse with ease and travels to shows and rodeos across the state on a
regular basis. But in her down-time she sometimes enjoys playing with
toy ponies and jumping on the trampoline.
“She just turned five in November,” said
her mother, Shannon, “And she’s been riding since she was two.”
Shannon, the Chief Nursing Officer at
Comanche County Medical Center, explains that Macee first rode with
her. “And then she rode for a year in what they call a ‘lead line’
class,” Shannon said, “and won an ‘all-around’ in a junior rodeo with
that.” Shannon also began riding and competing at a very early age,
and has earned several world competition titles in barrel racing,
including one in 2006.
Macee enjoys telling people about the
horse she rode for those first competitions, when she was only three.
“His name was Snicker Doodle” she laughs, adding that he wasn’t very
big.
 Shortly
before she turned four, she became the proud owner of a much bigger
horse, Badger.
“In October of 2005, my sister and I took
Macee to Louisiana to look at a horse,” Shannon said. “Badger was 16
years old and a barrel horse. We rode him for two days. He belonged to
a 13-year-old girl who was moving up to a bigger, faster horse. The
lady (who owned him) was a little concerned when I told her my
daughter was only 3, and just turning 4. But Macee just got on him and
took off.”
Shannon admits that Badger -- older,
gentle and trained for barrel riding -- was a rare find, the result of
research and a little luck.
Robert Steigleder, Shannon’s husband and
Macee’s father, accompanies them on all their travels, but doesn’t
compete himself.
“He’s the chauffeur,” Shannon laughs, to
which Robert quickly agrees. But it’s obvious, even in the shortest of
conversations, that he’s also their biggest fan and supporter.
Another big fan is Shannon’s father.
“My dad, Jimmy Hyatt, was a team roper,”
Shannon said, going on to explain that Macee’s grandparents attend
many of the youth competitions, just as they did when she was younger.
“It’s really funny though,” Shannon said,
“my dad used to push me hard -- win, win, win -- be the best. But with
Macee, he just wants her to enjoy it. He loves to watch her ride, but
he wants her to have fun.”
Everyone seems to agree that even though
she’s winning, Macee is indeed having fun.
“She loves it,” Shannon said, “she will
ride as late as we let her and sometimes we just have to pull her
off.”
When she’s not riding, which is not
often, Macee can often be found playing with other animals, including
her dogs, Boo-Boo, Bitsy and Rex, and her cats, Spur and Kitty-Kitty
Si. “We adopted Kitty-Kitty Si from the Humane Society,” Shannon said.
Macee also enjoys fishing at the pond on
the Steigleder ranch, two miles south of DeLeon, as well as riding her
four-wheeler. She’s definitely a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl her
mother said. When asked if she likes to wear dresses, Macee makes a
face and shakes her head.
“We have a beautiful Christmas dress that
still has the tags on it,” Shannon said, “because she refused to wear
it.”
Shannon said that Macee did put on a
dress long enough to do a photo shoot for her fifth birthday, but that
she’s riding her horse in each photo.
“But Macee does have her ears pierced,”
Shannon said, “and she likes a little lipstick every now and then. A
little bling-bling is okay, but she definitely wants her jeans.”
Two of Macee’s previous belt buckles are
displayed in the family home, along with numerous photographs. There
are similar accolades and awards won by Shannon displayed throughout
the house.
The buckle that Macee currently sports
was awarded for winning a series of pee-wee events (ages nine and
under) and being declared best overall.
Although Shannon has done “a little bit
of everything” including running poles, barrels and even some roping,
she said it was the speed of barrel racing that won her over. Luckily,
neither Shannon nor Macee have ever been seriously injured.
“I’ve had bumps, bruises and dents,”
Shannon said, “but I’ve never broken anything running barrels.”
Both Shannon and Robert say that Macee’s
first fall during a competition was difficult to watch.
“She hit the ground hard,” Robert said.
“We went out there and her mother put her back on the horse.”
“My dad has always said that if you fall
off a horse you have to get right back on,” Shannon said. “He was
there that day and he came out to make sure I wasn’t going to chicken
out -- because she hit so hard.”
Everyone agreed that Macee would probably
be able to finish the day, but a substitute horse was brought in
because Badger was too nervous after Macee’s fall.
“After that first event, I took Macee and
stripped her down and cleaned her up,” Shannon said. “She’d eaten a
lot of dirt. She went face down. I washed her face and put medicine on
her -- she had an injury that looked like a rug burn -- and she went
right back out there. Everybody kept saying ‘wow.’ I think a lot of
them would have packed up and gone home. She kept going.”
Since it meant she had a chance to ride a
little longer, it actually not surprising that Macee finished the day,
but it is admirable. |
