Sierra Lee of Rhame, North Dakota, has had a jam-up year in the Badlands Circuit, currently sitting in the No. 2 spot with $15,071.99 won in just 15 rodeos and she trails the No. 1 spot by $423 with one week left in the Badlands season.
The 26-year-old cowgirl comes from a long line of rodeo heritage in North Dakota. Her father was a steer wrestler and her mother a barrel racer and breakaway roper, and she continued the tradition from a young age.
Competing in youth and high school rodeo, Lee continued on to rodeo for Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, where she earned a degree in range management, before returning home to work for the soil conservation district in southwest North Dakota and help operate her family’s fourth-generation ranch, where they raise registered Black Angus cattle.
The years of rodeo have led into a strong career in the ProRodeo circuit. Lee has had a year stacking checks at all the important stops to set herself up for a spot at the circuit finals.
How She Did It
Her money came in bunches, with five rodeos accounting for $14,336 of that total. She opened her season by winning Watford City, North Dakota, in 2.1 seconds for $4,282 on May 22-23, then tied for the win at Belcourt, North Dakota, at 2.5 for $2,301 two weeks later.
She placed fourth at Mobridge, South Dakota, over the Fourth of July with a 2.4 worth $1,980—her only check of Cowboy Christmas—and won Wolf Point, Montana, in 2.6 for $2,876 the following week. Her busiest weekend came at Glasgow, Montana, on Aug. 4-5, where she won the first round in 2.0 for $1,057, tied for fourth in the second round at 2.6 for $255 and won the average on 4.6 seconds on two head for $1,585.
“The season started out pretty good,” Lee said. “I went up to Watford and Belcourt, which are two of our bigger rodeos in this circuit besides Fourth of July weekend, and I did well up there and it just kind of put me in the lead from the get-go. I guess it’s kind of just been maintaining it from there.”
The Horsepower
Most of her success she can thank her gelding “Smooth Frenchman,” known as “Twitch,” for. The horse she has had since she was a junior in high school has been her partner in the arena for a long time. Lee has depended on Twitch so heavily that in her own words, she hasn’t spent much time making other horses.
“Twitch has been my number one for so long,” Lee said. “I haven’t really worried about it and put the time in on others.”
That was until she got her hands on Kitty, a green grade mare she has had since college and has been seasoning this summer.
“She’s coming along pretty good,” Lee said. “She’s won me some money. We’re still working on trying to nail the start at some rodeos.”
A Support System
With her work and schedule balancing ProRodeos and amateur rodeos, Lee hauls alone, but she has a support system in place to help keep her going.
Lowell Ferris is who she credits most as her support and development system. Growing up, Lee’s family lived about 25 minutes down the road from Bowman, North Dakota, where the older gentleman ropes, and they often rode at his arena.
“He has helped us ever since we were little, since junior high when we first started roping,” Lee said. “Even now I still meet up with him sometimes, or if it’s a close rodeo he’ll come and watch, and I’ll ask him what he thought and what I need to work on.”
Her dad still pushes her to go harder down the road.
“My dad pushes me to and I know he wants me to,” Lee said.
For now, she is staying close to home, roping the circuit and the amateur rodeos around it and helping run the family’s cattle.
“With the ranch and my job, I don’t think it would really work well,” she said.
