By Zoey Burnett

From riding horses in her hometown of Burna, Kentucky to competing in college rodeo in Louisiana, Tiffani Crawford’s journey has been shaped by hard work, faith and the people who believed in her.

At 19 years old, Crawford is a college rodeo competitor at McNeese State University, where she competes in goat tying and breakaway roping. Although rodeo may look like an individual sport, Crawford says the people around her have played an important role in helping her reach the college level.

Crawford has been riding horses for as long as she can remember. She began traveling to compete, eventually turning her childhood hobby into a serious pursuit. Before college, she competed in barrel racing and pole bending, but she eventually switched to goat tying and breakaway roping.

For Crawford, the decision was practical. Barrel racing and pole bending can require extensive horses that are difficult and costly to keep healthy. Goat tying and breakaway roping, however, allow competitors to rely more heavily on practice and dedication.

“If you don’t have the most money in the world, you can’t buy the most expensive horse in the world,” Crawford said, “but with goat tying and breakaway roping, whoever puts in the most time and effort is who you’re going to see on top most of the time.”

Her dedication to rodeo started long before college. According to her mother, Dana Crawford, Tiffani was willing to make sacrifices from a young age just to compete.

“She would sleep in like the front of the bumper pull or in the truck or whatever just to get to rodeos,” Dana said.

Those sacrifices continued as Tiffani got older. In college, she has had to balance school, rodeo, traveling and time with her family. That mindset has helped Crawford continue pursuing rodeo even when money and circumstances have made it difficult.

Her college rodeo career has not always been easy. After one particularly difficult year, she said she left feeling discouraged and unsure of her abilities.

“I left last year feeling like a piece of crap, honestly,” Crawford said. “I left last year feeling not confident in any of my ability to rope or goat tie.”

Moving from Kentucky to Louisiana also meant adjusting to a new culture and finding a new group of people she could connect with. Eventually, Crawford found that having supportive people around her helped rebuild her confidence.

Crawford said the McNeese rodeo team has given her a community of people who understand the work that goes into competing. She surrounds herself with teammates who have similar goals and who encourage her to continue improving.

“I would say, for sure, just the love and the group of people is what encourages me to wake and put in the reps and work hard even whenever I don’t want to,” Crawford said. That sense of community extends beyond Crawford’s college teammates. Throughout her life, family members, friends and people within the Western industry have helped her continue competing.

Crawford credits her mother and grandmother as two of her biggest supporters. They spent years taking her to rodeos, sometimes traveling late at night or early in the morning. They also helped pay for expenses such as gas and feed, allowing Crawford to continue competing.

Other members of the rodeo community have also helped Crawford in ways she says she will never forget. She recalled receiving horses from people who believed in her and having others help with fuel and entry fees. One of the biggest examples came when Crawford and her mother were looking at a horse trailer that cost around $32,000. They knew it would be difficult to afford, but the trailer was exactly what Crawford needed to attend college with her horses.

Soon afterward, the family selling the trailer contacted Crawford. They told her they believed they were supposed to give her the trailer. Crawford viewed the experience as an example of her faith and the generosity of the people who had supported her.

For Crawford, these experiences demonstrate that success is rarely the result of one person’s efforts. Her family helped her get to rodeos, people in the Western industry helped provide the resources she needed and her teammates now help motivate her to continue working.

“If I would not have had them people in my life, I don’t think I would be in Lake Charles, Louisiana,” Crawford said. “I would still be somewhere in western Kentucky, tucked up underneath a rope somewhere.”

Dana said watching her daughter grow from a young girl riding horses into a college competitor has made her proud. “I’m so proud of the young woman that she is both in and out of the arena,” Dana said. “She’s just an amazing young lady.”

Crawford’s experiences have changed the way she views rodeo. What began as riding horses and competing in small events has become an important part of her identity and her future. She has learned that being successful is not only about winning competitions. It is also about continuing to work when things become difficult and recognizing the people who helped make the journey possible.

For Crawford, rodeo is ultimately about more than what happens inside the arena. It is about the relationships built along the way and the people who continue to push her forward.

Her journey from a small Kentucky town to college rodeo in Louisiana is still unfolding, but one thing has remained consistent: Crawford is willing to work for the opportunities she wants and is grateful for the people who have helped her get there.

See Crawford compete this weekend at the 71st Annual McNeese Cowboy Classic.