PENDLETON — In the sport of breakaway roping, just tenths of a second can make a difference in the standings.

To begin, the calf is allowed a head start after which the contestant rides behind it and ropes its neck. The contestant then halts her horse, which breaks the string attaching the rope to the saddle horn and stops the timer.

“As much as you have a plan, you have to react in an instant because you’re going so fast and things can change,” breakaway contestant Loralee McKoen said.

McKoen’s been riding horses since the age of 2 and roping dummy calves since she was a young child. She grew up in a rodeo family; her father and two older brothers were all competitive ropers in the Pacific Northwest.

McKoen lives on a cattle ranch in Southern Oregon with her husband and three children, who all ride horses. A few times a month, McKoen runs through their hundred head of cattle in the pasture and ropes those that need veterinary care. The technique is the same as that used in the rodeo, except instead of being as fast as possible, she must be slow and controlled so as not to stress the sick animal.

“They’re flight animals, so definitely there are times when they take off, and we have to run them down,” McKoen said.

In 2023, McKoen’s husband won the wild cow milking contest at Pendleton. He and McKoen also celebrated their anniversary at Round-Up, which has become their usual tradition. Though McKoen has participated in local amateur rodeos for a long time, last year was her first time competing at the Round-Up.

“There’s no other arena like Pendleton,” McKoen said. “You’re riding down a long alley, so you’re riding your horse for a lot longer than you would at a normal rodeo, and there’s the uncertainty of how your horse is going to handle the grass. A lot of horses can stop in the dirt with no problem, but some don’t handle themselves well on the grass and can slip.”

In 2017, Pendleton was one of the first professional rodeos to add breakaway roping to its lineup. Breakaway and barrel racing are the only two events specifically for women, overseen by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association instead of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

To qualify for Pendleton, contestants must be in the top 30 in the regional Columbia River circuit or top 70 in the world. As a full-time nurse and mother, McKoen only had time to compete in four rodeos this year, but she was accepted from the waitlist.

In the first round, McKoen finished with a time of 2.9 seconds, placing her fifth (tie) out of 98 contestants and earning her $1,312. She was a mere 0.4 seconds away from first place. Though McKoen missed her calf in the second round, her combined time was still fast enough for an overall tenth place finish, earning her an additional $1,087.

“I was happy to make it back to the short go,” McKoen said of her results. “I wish I would’ve used my head a little better in the short go and rode my horse a little better, but that’s part of it.”

On the day of the event, McKoen rode Nikki, a 15-year-old quarter horse in her rodeo prime. McKoen favors quarter horses for their versatility and ability to handle pressure.

“Having my body in time with hers and asking her to respond in that split second is key,” McKoen said. “There are a lot of great ropers that might not have the greatest horsemanship, but I’d say that’s the biggest plus here.”

For McKoen, rodeo is not just a competition, it’s a lifestyle. In the local rodeos, where women tend to enter more events, McKoen enjoys competing in team roping and wild cow milking.

In the future, McKoen would like to enter Pendleton again and possibly some of the other iconic rodeos like Cheyenne. However, her main focus right now is on raising her children and encouraging their ambitions.

“My oldest daughter’s 8, and at Pendleton she wanted to tie a handkerchief on the end of her rope and start roping the dummy,” McKoen said. “As a little girl you always want to make it to the NFR, the big Superbowl rodeo, but I think that’s probably more of a dream for my kids now. So that’s pretty cool to be a role model for them.”

This is the last part of a six-part feature from Olivia Wolf, writer and editor ofthetinyvagabond.com.

She wrote the story about the 2023 Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Night Show. The work focuses on the perspectives of seven people:

• A grandmother and granddaughter from the Yakama tribe who stay in the Indian Village and whose family has been attending the Pendleton Round-Up since its founding in 1910.

• A husband and wife of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation who also stay in village and live on the reservation near Pendleton.

• Pake Sorrey, Pendleton local who won the 2023 Round-Up steer roping competition and whose father won twice before him.

• And Toni Minthorn, a horsewoman and 2023 Hall of Fame inductee who trains the Round-Up queen and princesses to do the grand entry.

The East Oregonian is publishing a new part each day of the week during the Pendleton Round-Up.