Hockinson student competes at National Junior High Finals Rodeo

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Jake Raley, a 13-year-old who will be in eighth grade this coming fall at Hockinson Middle School, recently attended and competed in the 10th annual National Junior High Finals Rodeo (NJHFR)  in Des Moines, IA. The rodeo was held June 22-28.

Raley earned a position on the Oregon state/provincial National Junior High rodeo team and traveled with fellow teammates to Iowa.

In order to earn a place on the team, Raley said he competed in seven different rodeo events held in Prineville, OR, each weekend and the top four participants with the highest scores at the end were given a place on the team.

At the national rodeo event, Raley competed in three different events – bull riding, team roping and ribbon roping.

“It was very fun,” Raley said.

While at the rodeo in Des Moines, Raley said he enjoyed walking around the “giant” fairgrounds and meeting new people.

Raley said he first started really getting into riding and rodeo events when he was about 3-4 years old. He started out with some of the “easier” events like barrels and poles, and moved on to break-away roping and other rodeo events.

At the ranch/farm where Raley lives with his family, he said they have about 20 horses right now. Two of those are the ones Raley brought with him to compete at the rodeo in Des Moines – Bud Light, a 9-year-old Quarter Horse, and Dock, a 16-year-old Quarter Horse.



Raley said he rides horses for at least an hour every day, sometimes four or five hours if he’s working on something specific.

“I like the lifestyle that comes with it (riding horses), I like the rush,” Raley said.

Although he said he’s gotten pretty sore from riding in rodeo events, Raley said he’s never been seriously injured.

Raley said he was actually able to attend the national rodeo event one other time about three years ago in New Mexico when one of his brothers qualified to compete. He has two older brothers and one younger brother.

Eventually, Raley said he would like to become involved in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

“I want to go pro and make money doing it,” he said.

Featuring roughly 1,000 contestants from 42 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia, the NJHFR is the world’s largest junior high rodeo. In addition to competing for more than $75,000 in prizes, contestants also compete for more than $100,000 in college scholarships and the chance to be named a National Junior High Finals Rodeo National Champion.