This year at the 2011 National Little Britches Rodeo Association Finals, Nebraska’s 19-year-old Danni Jo Hinman became the second female ever to snag the Senior Team Roping World Champion title at the National Little Britches Rodeo Association Finals.
Danni Jo ropes with her brother, David, and was thrilled to be able to win the title with him. Not only did all of her hard work pay off at the finals, but Hinman could not be more excited to have won the title with her brother, who also worked hard and practiced a lot to get to this point.
The Hinmans also claimed the NLBRF average title, roping three steers in 29.03 seconds. David won the final’s all-around crown, finishing fifth in the tie-down and all-around world standings.
Danni Jo’s favorite event is the team roping, but competing in an event dominated by males is no easy task. To prepare herself for team roping at any rodeo, Danni Jo first starts with her mind set. “I rope against the guys, so I better rope like them,” is the saying she keeps in the back of her mind whenever she is team roping. She has never felt like she is at a disadvantage being a female team roper, which definitely helps her in the arena. In the winter, Danni Jo lifts weights to keep in shape, keeping in mind the strength that is required to keep up with male ropers, and in the summer she and her brother David rope Nearly every day.
Another of Danni Jo’s strategies is to rope the dummy a lot. It is very important to master the muscle memory of roping a steer. “My dad has always told me to ?ride my horse.’ It’s very important to get them where they need to be and teach them what you want them to do, so when I’m practicing I try to really focus on that,” Danni Jo says about her main strategy. Danni?Jo also competes in the breakaway roping and the goat tying. She intends to continue her education and rodeo career in Riverton, Wyo. at Central Wyoming College in the fall.
The National Little Britches Rodeo Association is a family- oriented organization, founded in 1952. Since then it has grown substantially and become one of the largest kid’s rodeo associations, crowning 30 world champions every year at their finals in Pueblo, Colorado. The organization gathers great prizes for many of their competitors, including buckles, tack, saddles and $40,000 in college scholarships.
See October’s issue of Spin To Win Rodeo for full NLBRA Finals Results.
