Romping and riding probably doesn’t even begin to encapsulate the type of thrill-mongering, adrenaline-flooding experience that Katie Coker undertakes every time she settles into the stirrups of a horse she doesn’t know in a 32-by-96-inch bronc chute. The timer goes off, and the horse that was being held down by ropes and the confinement of the gates takes off, leaping across the arena with incredible speed and agility. These mares and stallions are bred to buck, trying their hardest to unseat their riders, and Katie Coker’s one job in that ring is to stay on for her eight-second ride.
This native of Rockvale, Tennessee grew up riding English and hunter/jumper style, which, as far as horse-related disciplines are concerned, is about as removed from bronco riding as one can get. However, just as it requires a lot of balance to ride a 1,400-pound animal over a six-foot jump, it also takes a lot of balance to hold onto a smaller version of that same animal in the rodeo ring.
Broncos and cowponies are compact, and Katie has fallen in love with them, according to her mother in a recent interview with WGNS News Radio following Coker’s 2023 appearance competing in the rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“After Katie graduated from UT Chattanooga in 2021, she decided to visit friends in Colorado, loved it and stayed to work with horses at a ranch there as well as in Texas. Her interest in rodeo events began about five months ago,” the proud mama, Elizabeth Coker, continued. Clearly, Katie’s career in the ranch bronco riding community has escalated at a rapid rate.
In July, Coker had the honor of being one of five young women chosen to represent the United States at the Women’s Ranch Bronc Championship held in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Riding teams from Belgium and Canada attended as well. There, Coker posted the top score of Round One, sending her family and friends in the Rockvale community over the moon, and even sending her sailing over the horn of her saddle, after the ride was complete. She did not even have both of her feet in the stirrups for that successful bronc ride.
“I don’t need Red Bull to give me wings; I’ve got bucking horses,” Katie posted on Instagram following the round.
After competing at the bucking competition known as “The Daddy of ’Em All”—Cheyenne Frontier Days is reportedly the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and Western celebration—who knows what heights this cowgirl will reach for next.
