YOUR AD HERE »

Behind the Chutes: Taryn Sippel

SDSU's Taryn Sippel hopes to teach her younger sisters to rope when they are old enough. Courtesy photo SDSU

Age: 22

Family: My dad’s name is Dana, my mom’s name is Denice and my step-mom’s name is Aimee. I have 3 sisters, Jordan (24), Sage (7) and Bryn (4). My dad was the one that started me and my older sister out rodeoing. He would take us to little barrel racings and also taught my sister and I to rope at young ages.

Hometown: Pierpont, SD



School: South Dakota State University

Rodeo events: Breakaway Roping, Barrel Racing and Team Roping



What is your future in the sport of rodeo? Where would you like to see it go? I want to continue to SDRA rodeo in the summer and hopefully start going to pro cards this next fall. I like to train young horses so I plan on taking them to rodeos in the future

What is your ultimate goal as you continue competing in rodeos? I want to finish strong with college rodeos and continue rodeoing this summer and hopefully buy my pro card this fall and try that for a year and see how it goes.

Favorite aspect of rodeo: I like how many people you meet and the different places you get to go and things you see along the way. It’s really an experience and the sport makes a lot of memories and friends that you usually keep your whole life.

Best rodeo memory: Qualifying for the CNFR last year and winning the first round and getting presented my championship ring during the night performance. Last year, my barrel horse that I also team rope on also won the Great Plains Region Women’s Horse of the Year.

Notable achievements in the sport: Being the SD High School Finals Breakaway Roping Champion two years in a row in 2008 and 2009, something that hadn’t been done by someone in over 40 years and making it to the National High School Finals in Farmington, New Mexico both years in Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing.

Tell us about your horse(s): I have two horses that I take to every rodeo. My barrel horse that I also team rope on is a 13-year-old gray mare named Silver. I bought her as a baby and trained her myself in barrels and trained her to head and heel on as well. She is out of the stud Illuminator and a half sister to Jill Moody’s “Dolly.” She is an all-around great horse to have on the road. I took her to High School Nationals both years and she has been a great horse and a great blessing to have. I won the 2012 Great Plains Women’s Horse of the Year award on her last year and hopefully continue to do well on her this year as well as the past years.

My breakaway horse’s name is Roany. He is an 18-year-old bay roan that has been with me through thick and thin. My junior year, during my high school region rodeos, my previous breakaway horse was hit by a car and killed and I had to jump on Roany the next day at the rodeo. I only went into state with 14 points that year and ended up winning the state finals and qualifying for the national finals with him and placed third in the first round at the national finals. I was very lucky to have a horse that was so easy to ride and could just jump on and be competitive on. Roany has many different traits about him. He is not a loveable horse at all. People say that he is a very bitter horse but anyone can jump on him and be competitive in a rodeo. If I get off of him at the end of the arena, any other horse will run back to the other horses, but Roany will run straight back into the roping box and backup and sit there and wait for me to come get him. He knows his place and I am very blessed to have him on the road with me as well as Silver. I don’t know what I would do without them; they’ve basically been like family to me through college and I will hopefully have them for many years to come.

Have you attended any rodeo schools? If so, which ones? I went to a Paul Tierney roping clinic in Brookings my 8th grade year, but basically my dad has taught me everything I know about roping.

Role models/mentors: For roping, my dad has been the greatest mentor to me. He taught me to rope when I was seven years old and has stuck by my side throughout all these years. Every year he has made a priority to buy me roping calves and make sure that I get enough practice and hauls me to rodeos all summer long. He didn’t get to high school or college rodeo so I feel that he enjoyed taking me and my sister to rodeos throughout high school and now that I have little sisters he gets to take them to rodeos again and I will probably help him when they get old enough to go to rodeos.

What do you like to do when you’re not competing? I enjoy playing Intramural basketball during the off-season in college. My girls basketball team was the SDSU Intramural Champions and Extramural Tournament Champions this year. I also compete in intramural volleyball and softball when I’m not practicing rodeo. In the summer I work at Clausen’s Steakhouse on Pickeral Lake and also have a cabin there so I enjoy days at the lake on the pontoon, skiing and just hanging out with friends. I also enjoy a good game of pool when I’m out with friends after a rodeo and I enjoy ice fishing in the winter.

What’s playing on your iPod/radio? I’m a big Country Music fan. I like the old ‘90s country the best and most of today’s country is good to listen to as well but I absolutely dislike Taylor Swift. On a long roadtrip, a good rap/hip hop song keeps you awake and gets everyone pumped up before a rodeo as well.