SULTAN – Very early in her riding career, Alyson Rehm fell from her horse. As her mom Judy Rehm remembers, “She screamed bloody murder.”
Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald
Alyson’s memory is more vague, which is not surprising since she was 2 at the time.
Then there was the time about five years ago when Alyson was riding with a neighbor. Two girls on one horse, not doing anything particularly difficult or dangerous, but somehow the horse lost its footing on some wet ground. The animal went down and so did the girls with the horse landing on top of them. The result was two broken legs, one per girl.
“I was in a cast for two months, but I was lucky,” she said. “I only broke the smaller bone in my leg. (My friend) broke both bones, and one of the bones broke in three spots and it shattered in one spot.” The unfortunate girl needed surgery.
Over the years there have been other tumbles, but each time Alyson has adhered to a steadfast policy.
“My parents have kind of taught me that if I fall off a horse or if I get hurt, I just have to get right back on,” she said. “I don’t want to get scared of it like some people would. I’ve talked to my friends and they’ll say things like, ‘Oh, I rode a horse once, but I fell off and I haven’t been on one since.’ So even if I fall off when I’m alone, I’ll get back on if I can and go ride.”
Though falls will always be a potential hazard, they have never dissuaded Alyson from a sport that has become her pride and passion. The Sultan High School sophomore, one of the state’s best, has her eye set on a high finish at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyo., late next month, a week-long event that brings together approximately 1,500 competitors from 40 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia.
In rodeo, girls compete in four events – barrel racing, a timed event around three barrels in a kind of cloverleaf pattern; pole bending, which is sort of a horseback slalom race; goat tying, a race to see how fast one can tie three of a goat’s four legs; and breakaway roping.
The Washington State Horsemen organization also has a Games Division in which contestants compete in additional events, with a state champion in various age groups based on an average of their best showings throughout the season. Alyson has been a state champion each of the past two years, once as a junior and again last year in the intermediate division.
Horses have long been a big part of the Rehm household, which includes father Joe.
“Her dad and I have had horses since right before Alyson was born,” Judy said, “so basically when she was born she didn’t have a choice. That’s what we do, so that’s what she did.
“She rides almost every day. You have to keep the horses up so they’re competitive, but you can’t drill on events every day or they get soured on it. So (Alyson) mixes it up. Sometimes she works on events and sometimes she rides just to keep them fit.”
Alyson has two horses – Tru, an 11-year-old mare that she has been riding for about five years; and Joker, a 7-year-old gelding that she has ridden for around one year. Often she rides both in a single competition, and she can train with them in an arena the family has constructed behind their home.
Her schedule throughout the year is steady, sometimes frenetic, with competitions almost every weekend. Many of the events are in the state or elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but in the summer the family takes longer excursions. Coming up is a five-week trek to Wyoming for the national finals and to another event in Fort Worth, Texas.
It is, obviously, a genuine family affair and an expensive one at that. The family is seeking sponsors to help defray some of their considerable travel costs.
The travel, along with the opportunity to spend time with others in the rodeo community, is one of the enjoyable aspects of the sport, Alyson said.
“I’ve made a ton of friends across the state of Washington and even from across the country,” she said. “We’re gone all the time – every weekend, it seems like – but it’s fun going to different places and meeting people who do this.”
“She has friends at school, but only one of them is into horses so they really don’t understand,” her mother said. “They say, ‘Let’s go to the movies.’ And she’ll say, ‘I can’t, I’m going to a rodeo this weekend.’ So pretty much her social world is in the horse world.”
Horses will likely be a big part of her future, too. She hopes to ride collegiately (she is a near straight-A student), and some schools, primarily in places like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and other neighboring states offer scholarships to top rodeo contestants. She would like to compete in the prestigious National Finals Rodeo. Later, she sees herself working either as a horse trainer for rodeo events or perhaps in horse chiropractic and/or veterinary medicine.
“I want to keep going on with it,” she said. “”I want to stay with horses because I know a lot about it.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
