She can shoe, train, jump, race and breed horses and she’s just 16 years old.
“I could literally ride before I could walk.”
For Josie Lauman, horses are just a way of life. Growing up in Terrebonne on her family’s horse ranch, Josie has lived and breathed horses since the day she was born.
Ask this teen what she does for fun, and you’ll get some quick perspective.
“If there’s not horses, what’s the point?” Josie asks.
And she doesn’t just do one thing or ride one way. She does it all.
“I do all my own shoeing. I have started a breeding program for my jumpers,” said Josie. “I love the speed.”
She even crosses over from the Western world to the English world, barrel racing one day and jumping thoroughbreds the next.
“The jumping is definitely more expensive, so finance-wise it would be smarter to go with barrel racing. But I love them both.”
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Two worlds that rarely collide.
“The English and Western world really have never gotten along. They don’t like each other.”
And she’s not just a participant. She goes out and wins events, putting together quite the resume over the past few years.
“This year I was able to go to regionals in Washington for OSET and did really well. Was 0.05 seconds off the record for barrel racing and I won barrel racing. It was cool. It was a really neat experience. We got to go up there as a team as well.”
She got started competing in 4H before she’d even hit double digits.
“When I was nine years old, the quickest I could get into 4H. My brother had done it three years prior to me and as soon as I was old enough, I got into it.”
Take one look at her older brother and it’s pretty clear cowboying and horses are in the blood.
Josie’s days are spent on the ranch where hard work, chores and fun go hand in hand.
“You don’t get a day off. There’s no such thing on a ranch. No matter how hard you try, there’s always something that has to be done.”
And where her horse Red gets trained, prepped and sprayed down after a good day’s work.
“He’s my main competition horse.”
Josie’s already accomplished a ton. And this year, she’ll look to add a couple more challenges — competing in high school rodeo and also becoming a horse mama.
“We actually have three foals this year. This will be my first year having my own, so super excited for that.”
After high school, Josie says she wants to continue training and breeding horses and competing in barrel racing and jumping competitions.
