NorthwestJanuary 2, 2004

After winter break, Tobi Osburn will be wearing out practice goats

Dean Ferguson

Tobi Osburn, 19, of Craigmont has won nine saddles she doesn't use. But the saddle she won in 2002 for the Idaho High School Rodeo goat-tying championship has countless hours of hard riding on it.

"I worked for four years for that saddle, and that's the one I ride," says Osburn.

In 2003, Osburn rode that saddle to beat all of the Northwest Region College Rodeo competitors in two events, goat-tying and breakaway roping. She missed the all-around cowgirl title by one thin point.

Osburn competed on the rodeo team for Walla Walla Community College, where she is pursuing an associate's degree at the Clarkston Center.

Her regional triumphs qualified her for June's College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., where she took third in goat-tying and 13th in breakaway roping. Her winnings during the week-long competition were $1,200 cash and a $300 scholarship.

Osburn can't remember a time when she didn't ride horses. She won her first belt buckle when she was 3 years old in goat-tail-tying, a speed sport where children toddle up to goats and untie ribbons from the goats' tails.

Despite such early success, trophy saddles were elusive her rookie year on the high school rodeo circuit.

"My freshman year, I really struggled," said Osburn, recalling her first attempts at goat-tying.

Instead of turning in her spurs, she set about making herself the bane of existence for scores of goats.

"My sophomore and junior years, I tied goats 100 times a day. ... My goats didn't have any hair left on their flanks."

Goat-tying, an event for women only, involves a horse rider racing the length of an arena, dismounting and sprinting toward a goat tethered to a long rope. The cowgirl grabs the goat by the front leg and rear flank, hefts it into the air and flops it onto its side in the dirt. When the rider hog-ties three of the goat's legs together, the officials stop the clock. The fastest goat-tyer wins.

Over the years, Osburn figures she has gone through at least 100 goats.

Fresh goats are important. After a few bouts of getting picked up, thrown down and tied up, goats tend to just drop to the ground, roll on their backs and stick their legs in the air when they see a cowgirl headed their way.

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However, Osburn says those sour goats are still good practice.

"Personally, I believe in practicing tying on a perfect goat. If you can't tie on a perfect goat, you can't tie on a wild one," she advised up-and-coming goat-tyers.

Osburn did much of her winning on an 11-year-old quarter horse named Seven. She has a 6-year-old gelding quarter horse named Blue, which she hopes will be a winner at barrel racing.

"Blue's comin' on," said Osburn.

Osburn may go on to study anatomy at the University of Idaho upon completion of her associate's degree. If she does that, she plans to join the UI rodeo team. Regardless, she looks toward a professional rodeo career.

Her favorite professional is Charmayne James of Athens, Texas, who won 11 national barrel racing championships.

"To go that long and win that much is just amazing."

With a professional career looming, Osburn still takes it easy in the winter. She works as a waitress with her mother, Teri Osburn, at the Main Street Grill in Lewiston. Her father is Jerry Osburn.

Her six horses, who travel miles of Western highways during rodeo season, also get a couple of months' rest at their winter home in Lewiston. Osburn says she'll start working the horses the end of February.

She hopes this will be the year Blue turns it on in the barrels, but if not, she has other possibilities.

"I have a few younger horses coming up. We'll see where that goes."

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Ferguson may be contacted at dferguson@lmtribune.com

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