Amberley Snyder continues to rodeo despite paralysis

IONE — Amberley Snyder, a professional rodeo cowgirl who specializes in barrel racing, continues to enjoy the sport despite being paralyzed from the waist down.

Snyder will share her story with middle and high school students on Wednesday, March 19, at Ione Community Charter School, 445 S. Spring St. Her presentation begins at 10:30 a.m.

“Walk. Ride. Rodeo.,” a biopic based on Snyder’s 2017 book of the same title, can be streamed via Netflix. It highlights her grit and determination in getting back in the saddle after a motor vehicle crash in January 2010 left her with a spinal cord injury and paralysis.

“We don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose what we do next,” she said in the film’s trailer.

In addition to her passion for horses and her love of rodeo, she created the Amberley Snyder Freedom Foundation to provide help to youths and young adults with special needs and disabilities. And she serves as a motivational speaker.

According to her biography, Snyder was born in 1991 in southern California, where she developed a passion for horses and started taking riding lessons at age 3. After her father, Cory Snyder, finished his baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the family packed up and moved to Utah, which included the promise to buy a barrel racing horse for 7-year-old Amberley.

Growing up in a competitive family with five siblings, Amberley found her niche with rodeo. She competed in various rodeo events, qualifying for the National High School Finals in pole bending in 2009 — she won the National Little Britches Rodeo Association’s all-around cowgirl world title. Also, she was active in FFA, serving as the Utah state president in 2010. 

Snyder earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education in 2015 and three years later received a master’s degree in school counseling.

For more information about Snyder, search www.amberleysnyder.org. For questions about her appearance in Ione, call 541-422-7131.