Everything boils down to one truth for Kennzie Nixon: she simply loves to ride. Whether it’s roping, goat tying or running barrels, the fourteen-year old is happy if she’s horseback.
“I love riding horses,” Nixon admits. “I love it all, roping, barrel racing, all of it.”
Nixon is a multi-event competitor who will get plenty of saddle time when she competes in the Cinch World Championship Junior Rodeo (WCJR) at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma July 22-26, 2025. The $400,000 WCJR is presented in collaboration between the Lazy E and the World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) and offers one of the most lucrative rodeo payouts for youth competitors in the world.
Nominating her Texas Junior High School rodeos as well as the Tejas Saturday Night Rodeos in Bulverde near her home in Pleasanton, the homeschooled eighth grader sits eighth on the DY Leaderboard for barrel racing and fifth in the pole bending.
Ranking high enough on the leaderboards is one way to secure a position into the WCJR and Nixon is anxious to return after making her inaugural appearance at the event in 2024.
“I love that arena and my mare loves that arena,” Nixon admitted. “I won second in the semi-finals and fourth in the short go and that semi-finals run is one of my favorite runs I’ve ever made on that mare.”
Nixon enjoyed the whole experience in Guthrie.
“I loved it,” she said. “It was so much fun and I’m excited to go back.”
Nixon’s equine counterpart is nine-year old Rosie, registered Troys Shine with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). Nixon’s father, Kent, bought the horse from National Finals Rodeo (NFR) roper JoJo Lemond several years ago.
“Dad finished her out as a head horse for me,” Nixon said. Though she had quit running barrels at the time, her dad encouraged her to start again with Rosie.
With some guidance from a neighbor, and help from her dad, Nixon got the mare going around the cans and added poles about a year ago. She also uses the mare for breakaway roping.
“She can do it all, exceptionally well. She’s cool,” Nixon said. “She’s my heart horse and there could never be a better one for me.”
Nixon shares a special bond with Rosie, saying they read each other’s minds.
“I can think of something and then, she’ll do exactly that. It’s the craziest thing,” Nixon laughed.
While Rosie’s personality suits Nixon just fine, she says others wouldn’t share her enthusiasm for the spicy mare.
“She’s not for other people, they see her personality as attitude,” Nixon said. “She’s definitely a one-person horse. She doesn’t like my dad but she respects him.”
“She really only likes me.”
Nixon says she grew up horseback; her dad team roped his whole life and Nixon got her start on his heel horse.
“I started with playdays and I was always the kid whose horses were running off,” she joked.
Kent Nixon has been on the entry list for WCRA Major events in the past but his own competitive career has slowed way down as his kids have grown.
“He focuses on us and I look up to him a lot for that,” Nixon said. She has a little brother, Kash, and two little sisters, Kennedy and Klaire. “He’s given us all his horses. He’s the biggest blessing.”
Nixon points out that being the oldest is sometimes difficult.
“It’s tough and not very fun sometimes . . . you get the blame. Well, not really the blame,” she relented with a laugh. “But more that the expectations are higher.”
Unlike Nixon, her siblings are more into sports, though five year old Klaire likes tying goats, and Kash heels for her at the youth rodeos.
“Mom definitely stays on her toes,” Nixon joked of her mother, Sarah.
Nixon herself stays busy, noting her days are filled with caring for her horses, training young ones, practicing and even riding some outside horses.
“I practice every day and work on myself,” she said.
Before returning to the Lazy E in July, Nixon will have a the opportunity to compete in the WCRA’s Rodeo Corpus Christi Youth Showcase on May 6. Nixon will run barrels, poles and tie goats in the unique performance.
“We go down there to the beach a couple times a year,” she said, saying it’s under two hours from home. “It will be my first time to compete there. It should be a fun event.”
Though she’s just about to start high school, Nixon has thought about her future, which she believes includes college rodeo. She may not be sure of a course of study but this cowgirl knows exactly what she wants to do.
“I want to ride horses for a living,” she stated. “But if God’s plan for me changes, I’ll stick with wherever He leads me.”
“But I really do enjoy riding horses and learning from everyone to get better,” Nixon said. “I don’t know what I’d do without horses in my life. I’d sell my house before I’d sell my horses.”
