Knight riding out senior year

Abby Knight will be heading to Rock Springs, Wyo. for the National High School Rodeo Finals again this July.

Knight, an 18-year-old graduate of Charlo High School, had a great first go in that timed event on Thursday at the Montana High School Rodeo finals in Kalispell. Her 21.11-second run was the second best of the day.

Mikayla Fuller of Bozeman had the top go with a 20.96.

But Knight’s outing with her 8-year old bay quarter horse on Friday was not so smooth.

“Tipped two poles,” she said. “Ten-second penalty.”

Her 30.27-second time dropped her well down the ladder, but she rallied to finish second in the finals, posting a 20.96-second effort. That showing put her fourth in the year-end standings and ensured the recent graduate of another trip to the national finals.

Knight won state titles in pole bending her freshman and junior seasons. She was a state barrel racing champion as a sophomore.

She advanced to nationals all three years, finishing ninth in pole bending in 2013.

Knight has been to enough rodeos to know that everything does not always come off as planned.

“You can never count on anything in rodeo,” she said.

“Things are constantly changing and the outcome may not always be in your favor.”

She finished fourth at the state rodeo in barrel racing but didn’t qualify for nationals in that event. She competed but failed to place in the breakaway roping.

“Depends on the day,” Knight said of what event she’s the best at.

“Pole bending and barrel racing are pretty even. I have a pretty good horse.”

Her horse — Mable’s Little Rocket, or for short, Katie — has been her competition partner for the last three years.

“She’s only 14 hands tall,” Knight said. “(Her name) describes her very well.”

Knight says Katie explodes off the start and is very fast.

“We raised her from a [foal],” she said. “She didn’t know how to run [at first]. Then it clicked. It was awesome.”

Knight and Katie won an event the first time they competed together.

“Seventy-five [horse], twenty-five [me],” she said of where the responsibility rests when competing.

“She knows her job. If she tips a barrel or a pole, it’s because I screwed up.

“Pole bending, there are more things that can go wrong,” she said of what is her most challenging event.

“Barrel racing, I’m good at it.”

Knight practices at least once a week, “but I exercise horses every day.”

At Charlo, she shared her rodeo time with basketball. She played four seasons and was a two-year starter as a forward.

She tried volleyball her freshman year, “but it started getting in the way of rodeo.”

She also ran cross country for one season.

She easily favors rodeo over team sports. The main reason, you don’t have to depend on teammates.

“Rodeo, it just yourself,” she said.

“You can’t be mad at your horse. They know their job. It’s a one-person job. Most of it is your horse,” she stressed.

“My horse is awesome. You have to be able to ride well with your horse and work well with your horse.”

Knight’s rodeo career will not end at the high school level. She has accepted an academic/rodeo scholarship from the University of Great Falls, where she plans to major in biology and take pre-veternarian classes.

She also has a PRCA pro permit.

“My ultimate dream is to make the NFR (National Finals Rodeo),” she said.