Devin Young to Attempt to Reclaim 2021 Junior High Rodeo State Champion Title
Sometimes all a girl really needs is her horse and that has never been truer than for Devin Young.
Devin, the daughter of Tab and Amanda Young is a 14-yearold 8th grader at Smithville Junior High who recently competed in the 2021 Better Barrel Races World Finals with her horse that was raised in Fayette County, Tequila (otherwise known as Jettin To Docs Bar). The finals took place April 21-25 in Oklahoma City, Okla., and let’s just say she rode away with a nice win under her belt.
In a competition with at least 2,000 riders, Devin and Tequila placed 7th in Race 1, and in Race 2 they placed 1st. In the Short Go (the final round of the rodeo in which the competitor field is cut to the top riders) they placed 4th with a time of 15.331. Devin made it to the Short Go as the 5th fastest back from Race 1 and 2. Devin brought home prizes and a hefty paycheck.
Tequila, a 7-year-old sorrel gelding, was raised right here in Fayette County in West Point by Robert and Stacy Walsh but Devin says she just knows they were meant to be together. “I feel like Tequila found me. About three years ago I was at a rodeo competing and a rodeo judge, Mr. Walsh, had seen I was having trouble with my barrel horse. So, a couple of weeks later he called my parents and told us he had a horse that he thought would be a good horse for me. The horse was a four-year-old gelding that they had raised, and his wife Stacy had trained on barrels and his name was Tequila. Mr. Walsh wanted me to take him and see how we got along. So, I started riding him and after a couple of days, we honestly started to fit like a puzzle. Our runs got progressively quicker and quicker and we started to win. From then on it’s been pretty much a fun ride,” said Devin.
Devin, who has been rodeoing since she was four years old and trains every day after school, says, “When we are making a run, I can feel what he is about to do before he actually does it. For example, when we’re approaching a barrel if it feels like he’s slowing down a lot or even speeding up, I know exactly what to do to help him out and get around the barrel as fast as we can without hitting it. I feel like Tequila and I have this thing where we know what each other is thinking.”
The Youngs whose son Nicholas, 17, also rodeos enjoy traveling to rodeos as a family and meeting so many great people along the way and couldn’t be prouder of how far Devin and Tequila have come. Amanda said, “Tab and I are extremely proud of Devin. She excels in school and puts in lots of hours practicing and taking care of her horses. It has been amazing to watch her grow into the competitor she is. Every time Devin and Tequila enter the arena, they both want to win, they are both giving it everything they have. They make an awesome team.”
Devin and Tequila are the 2019 and 2020 Texas Junior High State Champions and they will soon be competing to keep that title at the 2021 Junior High State Finals in Gonzales in late May.