IJRA Queen’s Rodeo goes big, Rodeo committee awards five saddles, 29 buckles

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Aug 3, 2023 | Rodeo |

WINDOW ROCK
Reigning IJRA Rodeo Queen Aniyah Dahozy wanted to go over the top with her rodeo.

On Saturday, the rodeo committee of the IJRA Queen’s Rodeo awarded five saddles to the all-around winners and 29 buckles to the event champions.

“First of all, I like to thank all my sponsors because they really came through,” Dahozy said. “We weren’t sure when to have this rodeo because we had (last season’s) banquet late. We didn’t know who the IJRA board of directors were going to be, so we were waiting around for that.”

Initially, Dahozy said they were going to award only two saddles to the high-point male and female winners as well as five buckles to all the all-around winners.

But with help from the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company, the Cody Jesus Invitational, mother Brittney Barney and grandparents Leslie and Angie Craig, they made this year’s IJRA Queen’s Rodeo a memorable one.

“Since I have only one more year in IJ(RA), and you only become rodeo queen only once we decided to go big,” Dahozy said. “We decided to give away more saddles and more buckles and all of this wouldn’t have been possible without my family and sponsors.”

Junior division champion Chad Capitan was very grateful that he got a saddle for his all-around title.

“I’ve been kind of up and down for a while,” the 14-year-old Coyote Canyon, New Mexico cowboy said. “I haven’t been placing much, and I’m thankful to have won a saddle.

“Ever since I (graduated) from peewee, I haven’t won a saddle,” he said. “I’ve been just placing in the team roping.”

Since he’s aged up to the junior ranks, Capitan said he stopped competing in the pole bending and barrel racing events. Instead, he competes in the breakaway, goat tying and team roping.

Of those events, he took second and fourth in the team roping with partners Colter Yazzie and Kenya Tsosie with times of 14.28 and 14.89 seconds.

“I’ve roped with Colter a few times,” Capitan said. “And with Kenya, I’ve practiced with her. I knew she was going to catch. She ropes with me at roping jackpots.”

Those placements earned him 32 of his 62 points in the all-around race as he picked up 16 more points in the goat tying with a third-place finish and another 14 with fourth-place run in the breakaway.

“I used to win a bunch of saddles when I was peewee,” he said. “Since I stopped doing barrels and poles, I haven’t won another one (until now).”

Mikal Ashley was another saddle winner as the Naschitti, New Mexico cowboy won the senior boys’ all-around race with 56 points.

The 17-year-old won the tie-down roping and he took fourth in the bull riding and chute dogging while adding a seventh place finish in the team roping with partner Dwayne Henio Jr.

“This is pretty good,” Ashley said. “You know, every run is like a practice run. I just think of that as a practice. I had to stay patient and make the same run like I do like at any rodeo.”

Ashley said his horse did its job in helping him win the tie-down event with a 17.23 second run.

“He did his work, so he did pretty good,” Ashley said. “He did what we’ve been doing in practice this whole week.”