It’s no secret that juggling parenthood and pursuit of a career can challenge a family. Questions like, “Who will pick up the kids from school?” Or, “Who will drop them off for piano lessons and karate?” are very much the norm in American families today. However, if you live in a rodeo or horse show family, it can become that much more complex.

Caldwell, Idaho, is home to the Telford family, where Jessie Telford and husband Jake raise their daughters, Sierra, 12, and Shawny, 13. In addition to her role as wife and mother, Jessie fastidiously manages Jake’s successful reined cow horse training business where he has earned prestigious titles, whose short list includes AQHA reserve world championships and the coveted 2015 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity open championship.

Jessie’s schedule is full enough running the day-to-day operation of their thriving business, plus coordinating life as a rodeo and basketball mom. As if that isn’t enough, Jessie’s passion is training barrel racing horses, and this year, she is a solid contender for the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas!

“It’s one of those things you always have as a goal, but it sometimes seems so far off or unattainable that you don’t let yourself think it’s really going to happen,” says Jessie, admitting that making it to the NFR has always been a dream.

For Jessie, 2018 started out with a winter rodeo entry in San Antonio. She was in Texas for Jake’s run at the World’s Greatest Horseman title, and she had qualified for RFD-TV’s The American, so it made sense to enter the San Antonio Rodeo. Turns out, it was an entry with great foresight. That single rodeo paid off to the tune of more than $16,000, starting Jessie’s bid for the NFR. Regretfully, she had not entered any other winter rodeos and the books were already closed.

Staying home and planning her spring run, Jessie patiently waited for the California rodeos to start. Her patience paid off.

“It just seemed like if I entered, I was winning something!” she says. “Famous Cool Whip was working outstandingly, and I didn’t have to haul very far.”

Famous Cool Whip, by Dash To Fame, is a 7-year-old gelding Jake and Jessie raised. He is out of her college rodeo mare, Had A Kanita, a granddaughter of Doc’s Dee Bar. Jessie says “Cool Whip” was a good futurity horse who could always post one fast time in a weekend, but he did not become consistent until his 6-year-old year. It was in 2017 that she started to realize he might be the one to help her realize her goal of going to the NFR.

Cool Whip earned some time off in May and June, and Jessie’s back-up horse, Shu Fire, went on the road with her instead. Shu Fire is a horse Jessie is familiar with; she won over $80,000 in Canada with her old college rodeo friend, and the Idaho cowgirl is grateful to have this superior back-up mount to relieve Cool Whip. Jessie balances time off for her horses and this helps to ensure they stay sound and healthy.

Finding the equilibrium for rodeo, family and business is a delicate challenge, but one Jessie handles by being resourceful and with the help of a great partner.

“I could not do this without the support of my husband,” she insists. “He has really helped out at home while I’ve had to be away.”

Jessie handles bills and invoicing from the road and daily enters either herself or family members in shows or rodeos.

“I literally enter something every day! I have six horses to enter for Jake, and that has to happen today,” she told us in July.

The Telfords put family first and pull together so that all are successful. In June, Jake hauled the girls to the Idaho Junior High School Rodeo Finals in Pocatello while Jessie drove to Central Point, Oregon, for a rodeo. After her run, she hopped a plane to Pocatello so she wouldn’t miss her daughters’ momentous occasion. For the Cowboy Christmas rodeo run at the beginning of July, Jessie hauled the girls and their horses with her, and Jake flew to Arizona to help with the driving through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and back home.

“I have motherly stress and guilt about not being there for them enough, and I’m just hoping it all counts for something,” Jessie says.

“I try to enter smart by going to four rodeos within 10 hours of home. Then I get to be home at least three days a week.”

Jessie has found so far that it’s better for her horses and her family if she goes to four rodeos instead of six in a week. She also notes how she is lucky to be centrally located to some major rodeos, a fact she figures has had a significant impact on her success this year.

In rodeo circles, Jessie has heard it mentioned that there is no way to be a good mom and rodeo successfully, but she doesn’t buy into that dogma; she believes in the teamwork of her family.

“If you have a good horse, you can have your family, you can still come home and you don’t have to be gone six months at a time,” she says passionately.

As of August 28, Jessie hung right at the bubble, sitting 15th in the world standings with $72,507.37 earned in 53 rodeos.

At the end of the day, she knows Team Telford will support her. Win or lose, it’s family first.