Little Tricksters
By: Ruth Nicolaus
Mini trick riders to entertain at Red Bluff Round-Up
Twelve-year-old Payton Routier will partner with fellow trick rider Piper Yule to entertain at the 2020 Red Bluff Round-Up. The South Dakota cowgirl has been doing stunts on horseback since she was five years old. Photo by Peggy Gander, Cowboy Images.
Red Bluff, Calif. – Spunk and grit comes in small packages, and two of those small packages will be at the Red Bluff Round-Up this April.
Trick riders Payton Routier, a twelve-year-old cowgirl from Buffalo, S.D., and Piper Yule, a ten-year-old cowgirl from Calgary, Alberta, will be in Red Bluff April 17-19 to perform for rodeo fans.
Trick riding is like gymnastics, but done on horseback as the horse gallops around the arena at full speed.
It’s a dangerous but exciting western art, complete with sequined and rhinestoned costumes and the bravery, skill and agility of the two young cowgirls.
Both girls became interested in trick riding at the age of four when they saw it done at rodeos. And for both of them, one of the trick riders they saw was Madison McDonald, a Canadian-turned-Texan who will also trick ride in Red Bluff, along with Shelby Pierson.
For the last two years, Payton has been trick riding at rodeos. Piper worked her first rodeo in 2015 at the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
Ten-year-old cowgirl Piper Yule will entertain with her trick riding at this year’s Red Bluff Round-Up. The Canadian girl performed at the 2019 National Finals Rodeo. Photo by Hubbell Photography.
The girls love their sport. Each will do tricks on the track in front of the grandstands: the full fender, the hippodrome stand, the back bend, the split-the-neck, the Cheyenne drag, and the vault. All take weeks to master, plus athletic ability and trusty horses.
For the Round-Up, Payton will ride her black pony, Zach, who is twenty years old. Piper will be on Booger and Poncho. Both girls have graduated from slower horses to more speed. “It’s a lot faster now” with her horses, said Kelsey Yule, Piper’s mother. Payton agreed. “I didn’t like to go super fast when I was younger but now it’s more fun to go fast,” she said.
Piper, a fourth grader, takes her schoolwork with her on the road. Payton, in the sixth grade, will do as much of her schoolwork before she and her mother leave for California from South Dakota as she can. “It’s not fun to take it with you,” she said.
Payton’s mother, Jessica Routier, will compete in the barrel racing at Red Bluff. She has qualified for two Wrangler National Finals Rodeos (2018-2019).
During each performance of the Round-Up April 17 (7 pm), April 18 (2 pm) and April 19 (1:30 pm), the young trick riders: Payton and Piper, and the veterans: Madison and Shelby, will wow the crowds with their stunts, their death-defying tricks, and their daring-ness!
It takes a person with a need for adrenaline to be a trick rider, Payton said. She and Piper are a lot alike: “we just have a crazy attitude. You gotta be a little crazy to do trick riding.”
Tickets for the 99th annual Round-Up range in price from $16 to $35 and can be purchased online at RedBluffRoundup.com, at the Round-Up Mercantile in downtown Red Bluff, (649 Main Street) and at the gate.
For more information, visit the website or call 530.527.1000.