The 22-year-old barrel racer is the first Navajo woman to qualify for the finals.
When Kassidy Dennison won Round 3 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, she took her very first victory lap around the storied Thomas & Mack Center. The 22-year-old barrel racer has dreamed her whole life of making it to the NFR, and this year, that dream came true. Making it even more significant is that Dennison is the first woman from the Navajo Nation to qualify for the finals.
“When I made my victory lap, all I could see in the crowd was Navajo Nation flags all in the Thomas & Mack, so it was pretty special,” Dennison says.
Dennison grew up on a reservation in a small town in New Mexico called Tohatchi. Her childhood was spent helping her grandmother raise sheep and dreaming of rodeo success.
“It’s a pretty unique background from a lot of the other girls that are here, and I’ve always wanted to be here in Las Vegas. It’s the biggest rodeo so it was my dream to get this far,” she says and adds, “it’s awesome to represent the people back home and represent myself.”
When it comes to representing her heritage, Dennison takes pride in how she’s faced the challenges.
“I am the first Navajo woman to make the NFR, and coming off a reservation it’s already a challenge, you’re already discriminated. Minority people are looked at differently, and you would like that to be gone, but it’s there. It’s definitely different for me, but it makes me want to try even harder to be successful.”
Dennison has seen success before. She won a title at the National High School Rodeo Finals in 2010 and is a seven-time Indian National Finals Rodeo champion, but this year’s quest for the NFR has been special, she says. Dennison’s father and mother traveled the rodeo road with her, and her siblings and boyfriend would also make trips out to support her.
“Everyone was involved and played a special part, so it definitely was much more than just the rodeos,” she says.
But it’s Dennison’s horse, Eagle, who has played perhaps the biggest part in this journey. Eagle is an athletic 9-year-old gelding that has a few quirks. “He’s very unique and is a little rowdy. You’ve kind of got to watch yourself around him, but when it’s game time, it’s game time for him,” Dennison laughs.
Her fans on social media have started using the hashtags of #GoFastKass and #FlyLikeAnEagle, and it appears that this cowgirl is doing just that.