Every day is a learning day for Brooklin Baukol

Every day is a learning day for Brooklin Baukol.

Five days a week, “Four, if I have to go somewhere to rodeo,” the Clyde Park cowgirl quipped, Baukol works for the Montana Outdoor Science School in Bozeman.

The 20-year-old takes children on environmental adventures, showing how everything around them interacts and has a role on the planet.

“We show how we have to take care of the environment,” said Baukol. “I think I learn something new every day.”

Her weekends are spent learning with her horses – Freckles and Dolly -- finding ways to maximize their skills and hers in barrel racing and breakaway roping.

“I just push myself. To know how good I can be and want to get better,” Baukol said. “Honestly, I like to be competitive. Roping is based on myself and not just getting on a fast horse. And I really like to go fast.”

Based on times in the arena, she’s been earning pretty good grades this summer.

Entering the final stretch of the Mountain Health Co-Op Tour for 2024, Baukol is seventh in the barrel racing standings and third in the all-around cowgirl race. She is just outside the top 15 for breakaway roping.

A year ago, the Shields Valley High School graduate, finished ninth in the barrel racing and fifth for the all-around cowgirl standings.

“Not much of a game plan,” Baukol said of this year, noting she is working with young horses. “Just go rodeo by rodeo. Just to keep the horses getting more consistent.”

She has pocketed 10 checks this summer, seven in barrel racing and three in breakaway roping. Baukol has five top-four finishes in barrel racing, including a win at Wilsall. She was recently second at Townsend, along with placing third at Big Timber and fourth at East Helena and Shelby.

Baukol doubled her fun at Shelby, also winning the breakaway roping.

The youngest of five, “I’m the only one who rodeos,” she said of her three brothers and sister, Baukol started barrel racing at the age of eight and breakaway roping at 12. “I’ve been around horses my whole life,” she added. Her father Shane works in the logging industry, running TKB Trucking and mother Shannon is a sixth grade teacher.

“I didn’t grow up in a rodeo family,” she said.

Baukol is aboard Freckles, an eight-year-old sorrel gelding, for barrel racing. She has owned the large horse, 16.3 hands tall, since it was two.

“He can do anything. Freckles can run barrels, poles, hunt, you can take him in the water,” said Baukol.  “Because he is so big, his strongest part is he does well in the bigger pens where he can stride out.

“We call him Clifford. He’s like a big dog. He’s pretty lazy until you get in the arena. Then he knows you’re running barrels.”

The collegiate cowgirl has been working with Dolly, a six-year-old quarter horse for breakaway roping. Baukol has owned the horse less than a year.

“I just started training her,” said the owner. “To get her to start hard, get to her point and stop hard. Sometimes, we get there really easy … sometimes we don’t. Dolly, she’s getting better. It all takes time.”

Baukol is transferring to Montana State-Northern after spending her first two years at the University of Montana. While at UM, she was in the honors college with a 3.51 grade point average. Baukol will compete for the MSU-Northern rodeo team.

Baukol would like to be a chiropractor in her future.

“I really want to do something with anatomy,” she said. “I wanted to be in something medical but I didn’t want it to take up my whole life so I couldn’t rodeo after school. But I wanted to be in the medical profession.”

Along with work and rodeo, she also gives horse riding lessons.

“I’m pretty busy,” admitted Baukol. “You make time if you want it bad enough.”

Last week

Shaylee Berg wasn’t just fast with a rope in Townsend, the Stanford cowgirl was lightning fast.

Berg won the breakaway roping with a time of 1.8 seconds, the first sub-2.0 second run of the summer.

Only .17 seconds separated the top eight barrel racers at Townsend, with Livingston’s Ashlee White claiming the win and you had to be 4.6 or better to cash a check in steer wrestling. New Montana high school champion Tatum Hansen of Glasgow won in 4.1 seconds, tied for second-fastest time on the Mountain Health Co-Op Tour.

Teagan Arnold was plenty busy in Superior. The Conrad cowboy won the steer wrestling, was third in tie-down roping and third in team roping with partner Payton Levine of Wolf Creek. Levine was also second in barrel racing. Caden Fitzpatrick of Polson earned his Tour-leading seventh win in bull riding.

Reigning high school champion Caiden Gray of Miles City picked up his second saddle bronc victory of the summer in Scobey, while Glasgow’s Jack Cornwell won for the third time in tie-down roping.

Scobey winners: Ethan Frasier, Ashland, bareback; Caiden Gray, Miles City, saddle bronc; Karter Kuhn, Glendullin, N.D., bull riding; Grady Larson, Sidney, steer wrestling; Jack Cornwell, Glasgow, tie-down roping; Jace Bishop-Jake Newton, Glasgow, team roping; Lisa Warfield, Helena, barrel racing; Bailey Billingsley, Glasgow, breakaway roping; Bailey Billingsley, Glasgow, junior barrel racing; Cooper Fisher, Hardin, junior breakaway roping.

Superior winners: Dalton May, Coram, bareback; Garrett Varilek,Dillon and Brand Morgan, McAllister, saddle bronc; Caden Fitzpatrick, Polson, bull riding; Teagan Arnold, Conrad, steer wrestling; Carson Stevenson, Hobson, tie-down roping; Ian Austiguy-Sam Levine, Wolf Creek, team roping; Brittney Sporer, Cody, Wyo., barrel racing; Hailey Burger, Helena, breakaway roping; Cydnee Harrell, Totson, junior barrel racing; Darby Stonehocker, Charlo, junior breakaway roping.

Townsend winners: Wyatt Warneke, Great Falls, bareback; Paul Allyn O’Hair, Livingston, saddle bronc; Jubal DeMers, Deer Lodge, bull riding; Tatum Hansen, Glasgow, steer wrestling; Cash Trexler, Corvallis, tie-down roping; Dustin Datisman-Riley Bailey, St. Ignatius, team roping; Ashlee White, Livingston, barrel racing; Shaylee Berg, Stanford, breakaway roping; Sylvia Eash, Fortine, junior barrel racing; Brooks Bolich, Belgrade, junior breakaway roping.

Next week

The Mountain Health Co-Op pauses this weekend to allow competitors to catch their breath, rest their horses and heal those accumulated bumps and bruises.

The Tour returns in earnest on August 15 with four rodeos in three days. It starts at the Madison County Fair and Rodeo in Twin Bridges (August 15-16), followed by Darby Wild West Days (August 16-17), the Tri-County Fair in Deer Lodge (August 16-17) and the Calamity Classic Rodeo in Livingston (Aug. 17-18).

With only 10 rodeos remaining on the regular schedule, the pressure rachets up to get into the top 10 of the standings and qualify for the NRA Finals in October.