Since age 8, South Dakota State University freshman, Laney Hoier, has been dreaming of college rodeo and qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo.
After a standout fall season, that goal is closer than ever to becoming a reality. Hoier, an agricultural and biosystems engineering major, competes in breakaway roping and goat tying for SDSU’s rodeo team.
At the conclusion of the fall rodeo season in October, in the Great Plains Region, she holds the No. 1 spot in breakaway roping with 415 points.
“The college finals is something that I’ve been bound and determined, like every move we’ve made, every step we’ve taken, this is something I have been working toward since I was a little, bitty kid. It never occurred to me that it might not happen, because I was always planning on it. This is what I’m going to do.”
SDSU rodeo coach Ron Skovly is glad to have one of his athletes sitting at the top of the region.
“She’s hard working happy go lucky, and always in a good mood,” he says.
Skovly has been coaching the team since 2009 and has worked hard over the years to improve the rodeo team for his athletes. He says that the Booster Board has helped support the team substantially and thanked the donors from One Day for STATE which raised $149,000 this year.
In the coming spring season, Hoier would like to finish in the top five in the region in goat tying and win the region in breakaway roping. She would also like to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) and finish in the top five in the nation in either of her events.
The spring rodeo season in the Great Plains region consists of four rodeos. It begins March 27 in Ames, Iowa, and will conclude May 2 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The top three athletes in each event will move on to compete at the CNFR in Casper, Wyoming, June 14-20.
Going into her first college rodeo in River Falls, Wisconsin this past September, Hoier was determined to stay confident despite being only a freshman.
“I guess you could say my goal is to just be aggressive and attack it like it was any other rodeo,” Hoier said, “and so far that has served me very well.”
Hoier finished first in breakaway roping at that rodeo.
“It was a strange feeling,” she said. “I don’t even know how to put it into words. It was definitely a feeling of accomplishment, and a little bit of a feeling of like I proved myself. Like, I do in fact deserve to be here.”
Hoier said she appreciates the support from her team throughout the season.
“It really opened my eyes,” she said. “SDSU specifically has a really good team dynamic. It feels a lot like I have a bunch of adopted older siblings, which is really cool.”
Women’s team captain and rodeo club president, Jazz McGirr, also said the team is very close.
“If one of us is struggling, we go to another teammate and ask what was wrong,” she said. McGirr is a senior studying graphic design.
Hoier’s parents were especially proud. Buck, her dad, watched that first rodeo online.
“That made me feel very good, and proud, and relieved that she fits in,” he said. “She’s in deeper water, and she’s still swimming strong.”
Hoier’s mom, Allie, watched the rodeo in person.
“I’m super proud of the fall she’s had,” Allie said. “I’m excited for her. I’m glad she’s enjoying herself and I’m glad she’s having a standout fall as a freshman.”
After her college rodeo debut, Hoier then went on to win breakaway roping at the Blue Hawk Stampede in Dickinson, North Dakota. After that she finished second in breakaway roping at the Mystic Stampede in Mandan, North Dakota.
Although she didn’t feel her roping was the most technically correct, she says, “It was a lot of God making those piece fall together.”
Meanwhile, goat tying did not go how Laney planned this fall. She thinks she’s improved in some of her skills, but she has had a hard time putting all the pieces together. Nevertheless, she is optimistic about the spring season and is looking forward to working things out this winter.
Laney began riding at a very young age.
“She latched on to horses as a littly bitty girl,” Buck said.
For Laney’s eighth birthday, her grandpa gave her a horse that he had raised, which she named Roxie. That same year, their friend Jim Wakefield convinced Laney’s parents to take her to a goat tying clinic he was hosting at his place.
Buck and Allie said that Laney has always embraced new challenges with confidence, trusting her parents whenever they encouraged her to try something new.
“Oh my goodness, this is really cool,” she said while at the clinic. “I fell in love with it then, and we’ve been chasing pretty big goals ever since then.”
Goat tying has always been Laney’s favorite event and she began excelling in it early on.
In eighth grade, she qualified for the National Junior High Finals Rodeo.
Over the next four years, she won two state titles in goat tying, qualified for the NHSRF three times in goat tying and once in breakaway roping. She also finished her junior and senior year ranked sixth in the nation in goat tying.
Despite her many successes, she has faced challenges along the way.
This past spring she injured herself while dismounting her horse in goat tying. She broke her collarbone, which had to be repaired in surgery with a plate and six screws. Amid the disappointment that people expected her to feel, she stayed optimistic through the recovery process.
“Most people would take that as a major setback,” Allie said. “That’s where Laney is remarkable. She literally goes, ‘Ok well this isn’t my moment. So I’m going to focus on what I’m supposed to be learning right now.’”
Four days before the Nebraska State Rodeo Finals this past summer, Laney’s surgeon cleared her to compete under her parents’ discretion. She finished third in the state in goat tying and sixth at the NHSFR.
Hoier said that her mom played a key role in her achievements in goat tying.
“She (Allie) was a very good goat tyer,” Hoier said. “She’s definitely the reason I’ve had as much success as I have.”
Hoier rides a horse named Cartel in goat tying. She explained how Cartel is a very strong horse and can be intimidating.
“She has taught me the very important lesson that is, fear is a mile wide, and an inch deep, and sometimes you have to do things when you’re scared,” she says.
Hoier’s breakaway roping horse is Barbie. Barbie sustained an injury to her hoof after catching it in a barbed wire fence during Hoier’s sophomore year of high school. It took Barbie over a year to recover before Hoier was able to rope a calf off of her again.
“It has been a long road getting her to this point, but she is so exceptionally good at her job that it is worth it,” Hoier says. “She’s a very unique individual and she’s definitely like my unicorn, and I don’t think I’ll find another like her. She’s been a very major part in the success I’ve had.”
This winter Hoier will continue working with her horses to keep them tuned up and in shape, and work on improving her skills in preparation for the spring season.
Although she and her family are happy with how the season has gone thus far, they emphasize the importance of not focusing on the standings.
“It’s not done until it’s done,” Allie said.
Hoier remembers a piece of advice from Wakefield, the family friend, shared with them early on the importance of not worrying about others:
“It’s you versus you. It’s a goal of self improvement every day, whether it’s in the arena or other aspects of life.”
