4-H Spotlight: It's all about the rodeo for this competitor

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

“I’m just the driver,” Trenton Umphenour said in jest when asked about his relationship to his 13-year-old daughter, Dally Umphenour. But it was apparent that there were a lot of road miles behind that joke.

Dally, a member of the Jayhawkers 4-H club, is the first to tell you she’s all about the rodeo. In fact she said the horse show is the only 4-H event in which she participates.

However, at the end of the show she grasped onto a set of purple and blue ribbons that were testimony to her competitiveness and expertise. While she didn't do as well as competitors in some show events, in the riding events she seemed to ride with almost reckless abandon compared to other riders. However, it was really a display of practice and skill.

Dally, who will be a seventh-grader at Jayhawk-Linn Junior High School this fall, is a member of the Pleasanton Saddle Club, where she can hone her skills in barrel racing and the poles.

A member of the Kansas Junior High School Rodeo Association, which is a branch of the high school organization, Dally competes in those sanctioned rodeos along with events sponsored by the Eastern Kansas Timed Event Circuit, Heartland Youth Rodeo Association, and the Top Hand Rodeo Association.

In the timed events at the 4-H Horse Show on Sunday, July 26, Dally earned purple ribbons in several events including barrels, poles, and goat tying. Although she competed in an intermediate class because of her age, she beat out older competitors in the barrels and goat tying and received the second best time in the poles despite taking a five-second penalty.