Warden’s Aubree Skone ready for rodeo circuit’s return
Without events this summer, Aubree Skone, right, has been spending her evenings practicing out back of her parents’ home.
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Aubree Skone eyes in her target during a roping event. Skone has been involved in rodeo competition since she started in junior high in Warden.
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Aubree Skone takes part in the high-school barrel racing rodeo event last year in Omak, Washington, on her horse, Six.
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At 11 years old, Aubree Skone had just begun barrel racing. Here she rounds the turn on her horse, Yellow.
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Warden’s Aubree Skone has been biding her time waiting for a chance for rodeo competitions to return this summer, finally having an opportunity this past weekend.
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Aubree Skone celebrates with her Walla Walla Community College teammates, where she’s a member of both the soccer and rodeo teams as she heads into her sophomore season.
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Aubree Skone and her barrel racing horse, Six, make their way through the parking lot at a rodeo in Coulee City.
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WARDEN — After seeing her college rodeo season come to a close the night before the opening competition, Warden’s Aubree Skone had been biding her time until she had a chance to return.
Skone is heading into her sophomore season with Walla Walla Community College where she’s a member of both the rodeo and soccer teams. With the Walla Walla rodeo team, she competes in barrel racing, goat tying, and breakaway roping competitions.
Without competition, Skone has been working two jobs in her free time, and training in the evenings.
“I feel like I haven’t lost too much contact just because I rope every night,” she said. “I’m super excited for when rodeos do come back just because I haven’t been to one in so long.”
Skone started showing horses at a young age, but said she got bored with that pretty fast. Introduced to barrel racing by a friend, she decided to give that a shot as she began her path toward getting started in junior high rodeo.
Things moved right along from there, Skone said.
“You get to know more people, and they start showing you more things,” she said. “Soon enough, you’re doing all the events that people are showing you and stuff, so I sort of picked up more events as I learned more about it.”
While she said her mother, Cassie Skone, was involved in 4-H when she was younger, Aubree Skone said she’s really the only person in her family who competes in rodeos.
Skone said she’s tried to make it to as many “jackpot” events as she could while unable to make it to bigger rodeo events being held out of state in Montana and Idaho.
“There’s not many anymore, but when there is one, we try to get to it,” she said.
Riders like herself are not alone in missing rodeo circuits this summer, Skone added.
“The community is a big part of it too,” she said. “Yeah, we don’t get to rodeo, but the community also doesn’t get to go to rodeo. So, we’re kind of all in this together.”
Without events to go to, Skone said all the hard work and training she’s putting in can often feel like it’s going unnoticed.
“It kind of sucks because we’re working really hard, keeping our horses in shape, feeding them, making sure they have all the vitamins they need, and such,” Skone said. “But, there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to show what we’ve been doing I guess.”
Skone’s wait for an event was rewarded this past weekend as she was able to head down to Basin City to compete in the 2020 Freedom Rodeo.
