‘Just gotta work through it’ – Wyoming cowgirl overcomes muscular dystrophy to compete in the arena
Halle Crozier just wrapped up her sophomore year of Wyoming High School Rodeo at the state finals in her hometown of Buffalo, Wyoming. Although the Johnson County cowgirl isn’t moving on to the National High School Rodeo Finals, her year was full of wins on a personal level.
At five years old, after hitting all of her developmental milestones to that point, Halle was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy and Bell’s palsy after falling ill immediately following a pediatrician appointment where she received the vaccines she needed to be up-to-date for preschool that fall. After rounds of antibiotics, falling to half of her body weight and numerous doctor appointments where her parents, JR and Jonee Crozier, received no answers, they searched for a naturopathic alternative in Mexico.
“She was just a zombie of a kid,” Jonee says. “Within a month she was non-speaking, gray, losing so much weight.”
The diagnosis they got in Mexico was vaccine injury where the vaccine crossed the blood brain barrier and damaged her nerves, preventing them from communicating with her muscles. Through a strict whole foods diet, IV’s and vitamin infusions, detoxing and stem cell therapy, Halle has improved drastically to the point where she is today, helping on the family ranch and competing in high school rodeos.
“We go to Mexico to get umbilical stem cell therapy. I hope that’s in the future for Wyoming because it was a game changer for Halle,” Jonee says. “That’s what absolutely helped her turn the corner.”
When they first started the stem cell therapy Halle was so weak she lasted about 10 minutes horseback. She has since gained strength, stamina and is finally starting to build muscle mass back on her body, all necessary for Halle’s true passion, rodeo.
“I’ve always been around horses and on horses since I was tiny and I always loved ranching and I’ve always loved riding,” Halle says. “I love the horses, they’re the main thing I love about rodeo, but I also love the adrenaline rush, that really kind of lights a fire in me.”
Before she could walk she was on her pony going to barrel races with her mom. Today Halle competes in barrel racing, pole bending and this last year she challenged herself by adding team roping to her entry forms. Roping is especially challenging since she can’t lift her arms above her shoulders.
“It’s a lot harder to do most things and there’s quite a few things I can’t do but I’ve also learned how to do things a different way,” Halle says. “It stops me from doing a lot of what I want to do, but I guess I just gotta work through it.”
Things like catching her horse, getting her saddle off the saddle rack or even brushing her hair are daily challenges for Halle, but it didn’t stop her from roping both of her steers at state finals, although she did miss her dally on one of them.
During rodeo season, Halle is constantly practicing to better herself. Whether that means she’s out loping her barrel and pole horse, Sue, who Halle trained for the events with the help of her mom; or roping on Dually, her team roping horse with her partner, Carter Hutchinson.
“He’s been a big supporter,” Halle says. “I don’t know if he knows it or not, but he’s a great partner and he’s the only reason why I’ve been team roping.”
Though Halle hasn’t won any checks yet, she is choosing to focus on her own improvement from one rodeo to the next. For example, last fall when she first started team roping, the steers were pretty gentle and made it easy. This spring the steers weren’t as user-friendly, and she was still able to catch despite not having the best opportunities.
“Getting them caught, that was a big goal of mine and just getting better every run,” Halle says. “My mom and I always talk before every run, just go do what you can do and be the best you can be.”
Halle has gone through rounds of emotions, coping with the hand she was dealt, but through rodeo, Mom Jonee sees her coming out on the other side a mentally strong, determined young lady.
“When it first happened, she was so young she didn’t understand it,” Jonee says. “When she started feeling a little better and getting older, she got mad. She got really mad because of her situation and she can’t do what other kids do. We had to make the choice as parents and give it to her that your options are you can be mad and resentful or you can take this and turn your anger into strength to help you heal.”
In the last 18 months, Jonee has seen Halle wrap her head around the second choice, and when things get tough, Halle gets even more determined to get better and do the difficult things. Halle’s older brother high school rodeoed, and while rodeo was always Halle’s passion, Jonee says it was something her and JR had to wrestle with, allowing Halle to go down the same path.
“It was like an epiphany for me,” Jonee says. “There’s no question this is what she loves and just doing it is what she lives for.”
Halle was worried about what other competitors would say or how they would view her at first, but she quickly learned how big her support team was and how big the rodeo family is. Halle says she finds inspiration in her fellow competitors and in how positive the whole rodeo community is who supports and cheers for her.
“It takes a village to get this far and my entire family and my husbands family and all of our friends are a huge part in her getting better every day,” Jonee says. “She has met some lifelong friends that are going to be on her team forever. They’re truly amazing people.”
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