by Lindsay Humphrey
Growing up in Lindsay, Oklahoma, Nicki Schafer found herself on the back of a horse at many local play days and even a few barrel races. She was an active member of her local 4-H club and spent many summers riding nose to tail on Colorado trails during family trips. Although she was never without a horse, there was a time when she wasn’t sure if horses would ever be a big part of her life again. Raising kids and horses isn’t for the faint of heart, and it’s certainly a long-winded, albeit worthy endeavor.
“I wasn’t sure if I would keep horses around because of the career choices I was making,” said Schafer, a dentist who now owns and operates Chandler Family Dentistry in Chandler, Oklahoma. “Because of that, I didn’t have any expectations about my kids getting into horses or not. We always had them around the place but didn’t do a whole lot with them for quite some time.”
When Schafer’s middle child — Dilynn — was about five years old, she began to show interest in the horses that had always been present at her family’s Schafer Ridge Ranch. She would beg her parents to get the horses out and lead her around.
“Her legs barely made it down the side of a horse. One time, she even fell off and broke her arm when she was riding, but it didn’t scare her. She was right back up there as soon as she could be,” Schafer said. “My other two kids — Riley and Jhett — both ride horses too, but they’re more interested in showing cattle.”
Off to a Good Start
It made Schafer’s heart soar to know that Dilynn loved horses, but she never could have guessed the wild ride they would go on together. What started out in leadline classes has evolved into three trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Junior World Finals.
“Dilynn was about six years old when we started doing some rodeo sweetheart and princess pageants, but then a few years later, she started junior rodeo, and she hasn’t let up since,” Schafer explained. “She has been competing in three or four rodeo associations the last few years, and now that she’s a freshman, she’s in high school rodeo too.”
Previously, Dilynn had kept her focus on barrel racing, but she decided to add breakaway roping to the mix in the last three years. Even though Schafer has some successful barrel horses at home, roping was a brand-new sport for all the Schafers.
“We rodeo with a family that lives just down the road, and they’ve helped Dilynn learn how to do breakaway roping,” Schafer said. “She’s down there a couple nights a week to practice.”
Aiming for the Future
Taking things one step farther, Schafer began to breed some of her own horses, intending to bring them up as barrel horses for Dilynn and herself. This year, Dilynn competed on five-year-old Taxi (SRR Drift By Da Moon), the very first up-and-comer of the Schafer foal crops.
“Just like raising kids, it has been rewarding to see these horses at the starting line and then watch them go through all the trials it takes to get them to a point where they can compete and do well,” Schafer said. “It has taught Dilynn a lot, and she has grown significantly as a rider.”
All this time spent on the back of a horse and everything that goes with it have ultimately shaped the trajectory of Dilynn’s life. Now 14 years old, she is making plans for the future and can’t imagine doing so without horses.
“She’s talking about how she wants a career that has something to do with horses,” Schafer said. “Right now, she’s leaning toward becoming a chiropractor for both people and horses. Then she can still go to rodeos to compete, and she’ll be able to work on both types of athletes at the same time.”
It’s not surprising that Dilynn has dreams of competing in the National Finals Rodeo one day. Of course, her love for the horse first and the sport second are contributing factors to her success so far.
Learning Responsibility
“It doesn’t matter what type of animal it is. These kids have learned how to be responsible for a living thing that has needs that only they [the kids in charge of them] can meet,” Shafer added. “It doesn’t matter the weather, it doesn’t matter if the kids themselves don’t feel good, those animals eat every day, twice a day. And when they’re sick, the kids take care of them until they’re better. There’s no better way to teach responsibility and discipline than with animals.”
Much like her siblings with their show cattle, Dilynn exercises her horses just about every day. Although Schafer and her husband, Matthew Schafer, wouldn’t change a thing about how they’ve raised three kids around livestock, the difference in species keep them all exceptionally busy.
“Part of me wishes I could have found a way to get the other two kids interested in horses as much as Dilynn is,” Schafer said. “My husband grew up raising show cattle, so he’s usually off with the other two, and I’m with Dilynn at a rodeo. It would be nice to do everything together as a family, but we make it work as best as best we can when there are scheduling conflicts.”
