LINCOLN -- Teigan Parker's birth didn't break the family mold, but did launch a new branch for this first generation rodeo competitor.
Created in the image of her parents, Joe and Tina Parker, of Emerson, Iowa., Teigan, who appeared 412 miles from her hometown as visiting royalty at the 67th annual Lincoln Rodeo, carries on their values.
She credits her parents with putting a lot of drive to succeed in her and imprinting a personal initiative or work ethic into her as a way of life.
Raised on the family farm which grew corn and soy beans plus a little alfalfa, there were a couple of trail horses on the farm, but her parents didn't have much to do with rodeo beyond attending the Sidney, Iowa, Rodeo, now in its 97th year.
Exposure to the rodeo world sparked Teigan's interest.
"Seeing all that made me want to be a part of that," Teigan said.
At age eight she announced, "Dad, I want to rodeo."
Her dad answered straight up laying out the terms. Teigan knew immediately what rodeo participation would require of her.
"If you want to rodeo, you got to get yourself a horse," Joe Parker said. "We'll haul you down the road, but you got to get your own horse."
Joe Parker knew his daughter's success in rodeo depended upon her investment so he and Teigan's grandfather, Irv Parker, put her to work baling hay.
"Driving's not enough, you got to throw hay," they told her.
So, three generations of Parkers threw hay on the hay rack. Teigan saved $200 over one summer's worth of work and bought her first horse, a quarterhorse gelding named Baldy around 15 years old.
"He was just a little trail horse and we just started learning at the time," Teigan said. "Horses have been my thing since I was very little."
She began running junior barrels right after she purchased Baldy and tried pole bending.
"It wasn't the prettiest," Teigan said.
However, she found her niche.
Teigan studies Equine and Ranch Management at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and in her second year as a member of the college rodeo team competing in barrel racing and breakaway roping.
Her mother, Tina Parker, also influenced her rodeo career.
"Mom always pushed me to be better and just drove me to do the best I could possibly do in life and in rodeo. She still does to this day," Teigan said.
The 19-year-old cowgirl owns two businesses, Lucky's Fur Ranch & Tack which sells new and used tack and also does horse sales; and Elite PEMF (Post Electro Magnetic Field).
"Everything I have I worked for it from my truck to my horse trailer to all of the tack and supplies, all the veterinarian bills, everything comes out of my pocket," Teigan said.
Teigan was crowned queen of the Sidney, Iowa, Championship Rodeo in July. She appeared at the Lincoln Rodeo as guest royalty Friday and Saturday night and rode her quarterhorse Dixie in the parade.
Her advice to young people trying to figure out their career path is simple.
"Have fun, don't make it a job. Even if you don't do it for a living -- always have fun," Teigan said. "My message is really just stay involved. Love every second of everything. Life's too short not to."
"Really just take everything in. You'll always meet new people all with different backgrounds."