Hodges barrels through finals

Wylie Jo Hodges has accomplished more in her short lifespan than most have in 50 years or more.

Of course not everyone can be as talented on horseback as the young rodeo star from Bloomburg.

Wylie Jo competes in the Southwest Arkansas High School Rodeo Association (SWAHSRA) which runs its season from September to May.

After a very successful year in different arenas the young equestrian qualified for Junior World Finals.

Usually the finals are held in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, but due to COVID-19 the NFR and Junior World Finals were moved to Ft. Worth.

At finals Wylie Jo competed in the 11U Junior Barrels against more than 60 competitors from all over the United States.

Although she has different horses she used her barrel horse Cici in the finals.

Her grandparents raised Cici who is a nine-year-old registered quarter horse. She also took her young horse Faith as a backup horse.

After running a first round time of 14.5 Wylie Jo was in 10th place. She dropped to 15th after the second round in which she turned in an identical time of 14.5.

By averaging both scores together she wound up in the top 10 and advanced to the final run.

In that final run Wylie Jo posted a 14.4 and finished eighth in the world.

Her mother, Megan Hodges, said that “Wylie Jo was very excited to place eighth and felt blessed for the opportunity. She has a goal to go back next year and do even better. She likes to let her light shine for Jesus!”

Megan mentioned that this was Wylie Jo’s first time competing in the Junior World Finals, and that it is not easy to qualify for.

“There were kids from all over the U.S.,” Megan remarked. “Even New York was represented.”

To date Wylie Jo has won six saddles and 30-plus buckles since she started competing.

Some of her accomplishments are being named 2019 and 2020 EYRA All-Around Cowgirl, 2020 SWAHSRA All-Around Peewee Cowgirl, 2020 SWAHSRA 10U barrel racing champion, 2019 SWAHSRA 10U breakaway champion, 2020 EYRA 10U ribbon roping champion, 2020 EYRA Pole Bending and Barrel Racing Champion.

That’s quite a bit of hardware for mom and dad to make room for at home, but Megan said that they were very proud of Wylie Jo’s accomplishments.

“We are very proud of her accomplishments and her attitude in and out of the arena. She works really hard riding and practicing almost every day of the week. We are also very proud to have our kids involved in rodeo where they put an important emphasis on God and country!”