Josey James comes from a rodeo family and is wasting no time making her own mark out on the trail with top finishes in major WCRA events including Rodeo Carolina and Stampede At The E.
Hailing from Bulverde, Texas, the 15-year-old is focused on her horsemanship and rope skills to climb the ranks as quickly as possible.
She’s currently sitting No. 6 on the WCRA Rodeo Corpus Christi leaderboard with 3,216 points and leading the Division Youth leaderboard with 8,591 points.
BRJ: Did you come from a rodeo family?
Josey James: Yes, my dad Yancey was a bull rider and my mom Shannon was a breakaway roper. My 13-year-old brother does all the events—tie-down, breakaway and bull riding.
Did you ever do any other events? When did you first start getting serious about breakaway?
I used to do barrels and poles. I’ve had a rope in my hand my whole life, though, and when my cousin started roping it got to where I liked breakaway better than the others. I told my dad, ‘Hey, I want to stick to breakaway and put my mind to it.’ I was about 12 years old is when I really started going.
An open rodeo called Tejas Rodeo has really helped me. There’s a rodeo every Saturday night March through November. Going there has helped me be able to improve and go other places.
What does a normal day look like for you these days?
I get up every morning and I either do online schoolwork first, or I go and grab all the horses I can and start saddling them up. Every day I either rope the dummy, sled, or live cattle. That’s my goal, is to rope every single day. I go out there with the goal to be the best.
Who’s on your horse string?
I have a 9-year-old Nikita, she’s good for all kinds of setups and she’s my main horse right now. Then I have 14-year-old Tater, and she’s good for really quick setups.
I also have Junior and Frog. Junior’s taking a little break right now, but he’ll be back. And Frog is a lot like Nikita, but a level down so I’ll practice more on him.
Do you see yourself as more of a trainer or someone who will ride finished horses?
I want to find a finished horse and try to make it to the NFR. Focus on my horsemanship, my roping and on me. That’s my goal.
As a roper, what are some of the things you’re focusing on right now?
I’m focusing on [WCRA Rodeo] Corpus Christi right now, trying to be seeded for the Corpus Christi. Then the Women’s Finals, which I’m also trying to be seeded into. They did move me up to a pro [in the WCRA], So I’m having to work ten times harder. But hopefully I get it done.
How long have you been nominating for the WCRA? Why do you like it?
I’ve been to the Women’s Finals twice, so probably about two years now. I won the Division Youth World in 2023 in Guthrie.
The WCRA has a lot of added money that I can’t get any other places. I’m going to win money and try my best—and the competition is great for me to have experience with. It’s already helped me a lot, I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now if not for the WCRA. I won second at the Stampede at the E in January, and it was a really big deal for me to do well under all that pressure.
What are some of your plans for the future?
I want to rodeo for Tarleton in Stephenville.
