Codi Miller decided she wasn’t going to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo long before she started the spring season.
Codi Miller decided she wasn’t going to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo long before she started the spring season.
Ironically, after Miller made that choice, the Bowman County sophomore began building a sizeable lead in the North Dakota High School Rodeo Association’s pole bending standings with the help of a consistent gray mare named Fancy.
Yet, when the option of going to nationals in Farmington, N.M., or competing in the Miss Teen USA pageant arose — Miller was named Miss Teen North Dakota around Thanksgiving last year — the Amidon 16-year-old chose to fulfill her obligations to the pageant.
While Miller hopes she can reach the NHSFR sometime in the future, she said thinking about the success she’s had in both the rodeo and pageant world in the past year is a bit overwhelming.
“Sometimes I can’t describe the feeling I get when I think about how good I’m doing in rodeo and getting to go to the Bahamas too,” Miller said.
Miller will vie for the coveted Miss Teen USA crown at the July 31 pageant at Nassau, Bahamas, instead of making a trip to the NHSFR that seemed quite likely based on her success this season.
She’ll end her rodeo season this weekend at the North Dakota State Finals Rodeo in Bowman because the final days of the NHSFR coincide with her obligations to the pageant.
With 77 season points and a 15-point lead over runner-up Mamie Kieson, Miller has a good chance of holding onto her lead in the pole bending standings and winning a state title, which she said became her goal after deciding not to attend the NHSFR.
She has also been encouraging to other competitors trying to fight their way into the top four of the standings, which would earn them an automatic trip to the NHSFR.
“Some of them came up to me and kiddingly told me they don’t like me cause I’m beating them,” Miller said. “I tell them not to give up.”
If those wanting to make a run at the NHSFR can take any other advice from Miller, it’s that being consistent works. She has proven this season that consistency over the course of a season can translate into a title run.
Miller has just one win — a 20.849-second run at Killdeer — but has placed and accumulated points at nearly every rodeo.
“I just ride like I ride at practice and Fancy seems to know what to do and she does it,” Miller said. “… Since I’ve been leading, I’ve just been riding her like I do at practice and I’ve been consistent. That’s helped at keeping me up at the top.”
Consistency is what Miller knows she’ll always get with Fancy, a horse whose age is unknown but the Miller family believes to be at least 26 years old based on discussions with the horse’s previous owners.
“Everybody always sees this little tiny horse at the rodeo jumping around,” she said. “I always ask people how old they think she is and they say, four. … She’s kind of a miracle horse.”
This weekend Miller is also trying to duplicate the past success cowgirls have had riding Fancy through the poles.
Miller’s 14-year-old sister, Kit, rode Fancy to a state championship in the North Dakota Junior High Finals Rodeo in Hebron earlier this month. Last season, Bowman County graduate Megan Torpen and Fancy finished as the state’s runner-ups.
“I’m just impressed how she can still do what she does, being as old as she is,” Kit Miller said. “That’s really impressive. There’s not many horses like her.”
Next season could prove interesting for the Millers, however. With Kit entering the high school ranks, the Millers plan to keep Fancy, who is owned by Bowman’s Laverne Kulseth.
“We may have to play Rock Paper Scissors to see how rides Fancy next year because we’ll both be in high school,” Codi Miller said.
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