Kelsey Mabry Earns IPRA Breakaway
Gold Buckle
By: Tammie Hiatt
In 2018, Kelsey Mabry of Piedmont, AL, earned the IPRA breakaway roper rookie of the year title. Fast forward to 2019 and Mabry left the Lazy E Arena with the world title for 2019. “It felt really good to know I’d won it; I could finally take a deep breath. It came down to the last calf and it was between my sister [Kayley Kennemer] and me. I’ve never won an association before and it’s a very fulfilling feeling. My sister and I both had really good years, we went back and forth being first and second in the world standings all season.”
“I started junior rodeos when I was in the 5th grade. I’ve roped since before I was in junior high. During high school and college, I worked all the events. I’ve always been partial to breakaway roping and lean more there than running barrels. I recently sold my barrel horse so that let me focus on my roping. During college I made the CNFR twice and made the short go in 2014 in the heeling.”
“Winning the world really wasn’t a goal for the year. Every time I go, I just try to do the best I can with what I draw. There’s only so much you can control. I don’t focus on the outcome, just what I can do at the moment. I just wanted to rope my calves and take the opportunity to win.”
“My favorite rodeo of 2019 was Athens, AL. It’s basically my hometown rodeo and I get to see a lot of family and friends.”
“Advice I would give to a young roper would be this, you never reach a point you figure it out. You always learn new things. There will always be good times and bad times, everyone has to go through the learning process. Take the bad runs so you can make the good runs, it’s a learning process.”
Kelsey married Zack Mabry in 2017 and were one of the only husband and wife teams competing at IFR50. “I’m planning to go to enough rodeos this year to make the IFR again. Zack and I plan to go to more team roping’s together, so I’ve got to work on my heading,” she laughs. “I’ve also got several colts that I’m going to try to season this summer.”
For more information on the IPRA including membership, rodeo schedules, results and standings visit www.iprarodeo.com.
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