Daoust has success in first year with rodeo club

Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) rodeo club member Justiss Daoust will be competing in the National High School Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs Wyoming and the Canadian High School Finals Rodeo in Nanton, Alta. in July.

Daoust advanced to the competitions by finishing in the top four and top 10 at the Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association's provincial championships in the cutting event.

“It’s a very rewarding feeling knowing that all my hard work is paid off this year getting to go (to nationals),” said Daoust.

This is the first year the Grade 10 student competed with the ECS rodeo club, but she has been competing in the cutting event at rodeos for the past two years.

The cutting event involves the horse rider separating three different cows from a group of cattle in two minutes and 50 seconds. Competitors are then judged on their ability to complete the task in the allotted time.

Daoust could have competed with the rodeo club last year but decided to join it this year once it was something that caught her interest.

“I had lots of other things I was involved in such as 4H, and this year I kind of decided that I can only do high school rodeo for so many years. So, our family kind of agreed that it was the year that I should get involved and make that a priority this year, so I did,” said Daoust.

She was glad she made the decision to compete in high school rodeo, and she enjoys the atmosphere of the sport, riding and competing against people her age.

Since she grew up around horses competing in rodeos is something that really interested her, and her family has been a big part in helping her pursue the sport.

“My mom’s been a horse trainer since I was a baby, and I’ve been riding since I was at the young age of three. We decided that cutting was something as a family that we wanted to try so that kind of got me started there,” said Daoust.

Since it’s the first time Daoust will be competing in the national and Canadian competitions she doesn’t really know what to expect or how she will perform.

“I know there’s lots of competition out there, and it’s not going to be easy, but you know, if I try my hardest and ride like I hope to, then it should not be too bad."

To prepare for both competitions Daoust said she will riding her horse Rio every day to get him to where he needs to be in order to perform well in the cutting event.

Once she competes she will take what she learned from this past year into future competitions.

“Every day is a new day and if you have one bad go around, you have to just suck it up and hope for the next round to be better," she said. 

For her first year competing in high school rodeo, she is happy with the way she has performed, but she also said that without the support of her family, she wouldn’t be where she is today, on route to a higher level of competition.