Mother-daughter barrel racers from Tsuut'ina Nation making their mark in rodeo
CBC
Sonya Dodginghorse still remembers the first time she competed in a rodeo.
Her entire family travelled to Broadview, Sask., for their hometown event — her father and brothers all seasoned tie-down ropers, her sister a barrel racer. Even at five years old, she knew she wanted to compete. She asked her dad if she could enter the rodeo, too, and he obliged.
Not yet properly uniformed, she says she grabbed a pair of black rubber boots, a raggedy old hat and a white and blue-striped blouse.
"It was so fun, and I was hooked since then," she said.
The barrel races are what caught her eye — a timed event where racers try to get around three barrels placed in a triangular pattern the fastest.
Throughout the years, Sonya, 44, continued to compete in those events while caring for a number of horses at her home, DH Ranch, on the Tsuut'ina Reserve, where she also runs a number of educational programs alongside her husband.
She's also instilled the racing passion in her daughter, Cayda Dodginghorse. And together, they're turning heads.
The Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR) holds the world finals for Indigenous people in Canada and the United States. In 2019, Sonya became the INFR ladies barrel world champion, while Cayda took home the junior title. They've got the belt buckles to prove it.
"It gives me such an adrenaline rush," Cayda, 16, said.
"When I'm racing, I want to be like my mom. She's like my biggest inspiration."
They're both incredibly proud of their rodeo accomplishments, but even more so, they're proud of what they stand for.
They want to be an inspiration for up-and-coming barrel racers, especially young Indigenous women. Sonya says she has faced extra hurdles as a professional Indigenous racer, and she hopes by travelling and competing with her daughter, they can promote more awareness.
"People out there still have this ignorance.… I was at a couple of pro rodeos and I did hear some negative talk about Indigenous people," she said.
"My parents are both residential school survivors and, you know, it has affected us. It has affected our family, it has affected our communities across Canada. And so we raise awareness wherever we go and on our travels."
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