Late last month, 10-year-old Paislee Miles, of Onalaska, was riding her horse, Romeo, in the Kitsap Junior Rodeo, competing in the breakaway roping event.
Breakaway roping is a timed event where a horse rider will rope a calf but not throw it down and tie it up. Once the rope is around the calf’s neck, the rider stops the horse, causing the rope to tighten and break a string securing the rope to the saddle.
The moment the string breaks marks the end of the run, with ropes typically having a white flag on the end to make it easy for timers to see the moment the string breaks.
Together, Paislee and Romeo performed so well they ended up qualifying to compete in the breakaway roping event at the Mike & Sherrylynn Johnson’s Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship rodeo scheduled for December.
Now, together with her mother, Ashlee Miles, Paislee is raising funds to help pay for their upcoming trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, at the end of the year.
The Chronicle visited Paislee and Ashlee on Thursday, July 25, to talk about their upcoming trip and learn about how Paislee got into the rodeo world.
“I’ve been riding since I was like 2,” Paislee said.
Ashlee used to ride horses as well and was the one who taught Paislee and her older sister, Allee, how to ride.
A registered quarter horse, Romeo is 9 years old. Paisley saved her own money raising and selling sheep at the Southwest Washington Fair in order to purchase him.
“My husband calls them the boujee horses, because they get massages every month,” Ashlee said. “He just got a big deep tissue massage last Friday. I’ve never even had a massage before.”
While participating in breakaway roping, Paislee is also training Romeo to ride in barrel racing competitions.
The family rodeos together, participating in events throughout the region.
“We’ll take off to Chelan tomorrow morning, depending on the fire situation. Then we’re going to Long Beach,” Ashlee said Thursday. “She rodeos down south, too. We haven’t had a weekend off in three months.”
The family rides and practices roping locally at the nearby Rocky Top Arena in Salkum and Triple H Arena in Adna among other locations.
And while the family has traveled out of state before, this will be Paislee’s first time traveling out of state to compete in a rodeo. The entry fee alone for Mike & Sherrylynn Johnson’s Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship is just under $2,000, Ashlee said.
Additionally, they will have to pay for food for themselves and Romeo along with gas money traveling down and back to Las Vegas. Opening ceremonies begin on Dec. 4, and the competition goes on until Dec. 10.
Those interested in supporting the family can send donations to Paislee at P.O. Box 53, Onalaska WA, 98570, or send digitally on Venmo to @Ashlee-Miles-4.
For more information, email Ashlee at ashlee.miles@milesandsons.com.
To learn more about the Mike & Sherrylynn Johnson’s Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship rodeo, visit https://www.johnsonsportline.com/.
