Jackie Crawford was six months pregnant at the time she won the breakaway title in roping at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association National Finals, December 2020. Crawford rode in comfort because she didn’t want her shirt to show her prize belt buckles. Calf ropers in the discipline usually tuck their shirts in.
In an interview with Wrangler, the event’s sponsor, after her victory, Crawford mentioned the unborn baby girl she had already named Journey.
“This is one amazing journey that I’m getting to be on, and little Journey getting to be on it too,” she said. “She was giving me some kicks today, so she was excited.”
Crawford, 39, gave birth in March and returned to rodeo competitions two months later with baby Journey and Creed, her 4-year-old son. Charly Crawford, her husband, was a retired roper and stayed home with Kaydence, their daughter.
Rodeo athletes spend the summer collecting prize money at local events to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo at Las Vegas at the end of each year. This competition is between the top 15 rodeo athletes in each discipline and is known as the Super Bowl in the rodeo world.
There are very few opportunities for women in this sport. Breakaway roping — in which riders throw a breakaway lasso around a calf released from a chute — and barrel racing are the only individual events open to them. In fact, the 2020 season was only the first since 1959 that the P.R.C.A. had ever been involved in. — which sanctions local rodeo competitions — included breakaway roping in its annual finals, though as a separate ticketed event. Barrell racing was the only event of seven that featured women competing solo.
Women often reap very little in financial rewards. Crawford had made $36,200 at P.R.C.A. by September 2021. Crawford returned to the finals after winning rodeos. Comparatively, bull riders, all men, would have earned at minimum $100,000 to qualify.
The fact that breakaway rope is now included in the National Finals Rodeo, and other rodeos, indicates that it is no longer viewed as a niche event in the rodeo world.
Crawford, who finished sixth this year and was not crowned champion, is determined to ride the wave.
“This season was long and financially really hard but we made some great memories,” she said. “And I felt good about being able to win a world championship, take a few months off, come back and still make the N.F.R. — that was a big accomplishment for me.”
“But we’re going to keep pressing until the P.R.C.A. will put us in everywhere as a standard event with equal money.”
The New York Times interviewed Crawford earlier in the year at a few stops along her road trip, including at an Alvarado, Texas rodeo. Crawford found peace riding on a horse in the midst of a hectic road life. While waiting for her moment in the arena, she felt relief from all the stress and pressures. Her mind relaxed. Her nerves steadied. With a nod, she released the calf and set out, kicking up dust behind.
In breakaway roping, the faster the calf is caught, the better the competitor’s ranking. Everything happens at lightning speed. The rider tries lassoing the calf immediately it is released from the chute. This means that a winning time could be under 2 seconds. Crawford’s best performance this year was in Fort Worth, Texas, catching the calf in 1.6 seconds for a prize of roughly $3,000. Here, Crawford leaps forward on Uber, her horse.
Crawford competed in roping events when she was twelve years old. She continued her roping career through high school, college and earned five college-level national championship titles. Most breakaway ropers quit the competitive arena at this point.
“In generations past, unless women wanted to compete for pennies on the dollar, then their breakaway roping career was done after college,” said Kendra Santos, a rodeo journalist and the former communications director for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “They just had to do it for the love of the game.”
Crawford persevered, achieving 20 world championship titles for team roping events, as well as her historic win at last year’s national finals. Crawford is shown here with the 2020 prize belt buckle.
“She’s one of those people who has long been preparing to be great at something that didn’t have a big incentive at the end of the line,” said Bobby Mote, a bareback riding champion. “She just kept showing up every day.”
Although breakaway ropers are eligible for low prize money, it can be costly for cowgirls to compete as they must transport their horses across the country. (Bulls and bronco riders are assigned livestock randomly at the event and often travel together, splitting the costs. The cost of gas, horses, and caring after the animals on the roads add up.
Crawford usually travels with her horses T-Boy and Kevin, Roulette, Leroy, and a bus she purchased at season’s beginning. Above, she prepped Uber for the Alvarado Speed Track Qualifier.
Crawford was teaching a rope class last March when she felt cramps. She didn’t give them much thought. She only realized she was experiencing contractions after the lesson. She cooked dinner for her family and then headed to the hospital. Journey was born there.
Crawford was back on her horse five days later. Crawford was back on her horses about a week later and was winning again.
Journey would wake up in the middle of the night for the first few weeks. Crawford was also pumping during competitions. She was barely able to sleep.
Crawford hired a babysitter and bought a bus to accommodate her entire team of eight, including her two children, her babysitter, four horses, and her manager.
They adopted a kitten they found abandoned on the side of the road. They named him Skid.
It’s a circus, Crawford said, “but I just don’t think I could physically leave my kids for two months. I’d rather quit.”
Source: NY Times