Kassandra Shoemaker grew up like many ranch kids, chasing cattle and living the dream on the back of a horse. All of those hours in the saddle set up Shoemaker, 23, to leave her brand on the steer roping world, a traditionally male-dominated sport.
Learning to be a hand
Hailing from Gill, CO, Shoemaker grew up ranching and rodeoing alongside her parents, Wade and Dawn, and her younger brother, Coy. The family raises registered and commercial Angus, and sells registered Angus bulls every spring. In addition to cattle, they breed and train their own horses.
“With both of our kids, Dawn and I have just tried to make sure that they were good hands and good horsemen their entire lives, and they have both been very successful,” Wade Shoemaker told WLJ. “Kassandra has always been so driven, and she’s always been able to rope and catch from the time she was a little girl.”
Wade Shoemaker has known his own success in the steer roping arena. His name is frequently on the top 50 list, and he has won the circuit and the circuit finals multiple times. These accolades come from a lot of time in the practice pen, which has always been a family affair.
“When I still roped a lot of calves, I would run down and flank and tie one from the post. When I would untie, those kids would run down and step over the rope and tie the calf like they were tying a steer right-handed, because they were too little to step across the calf in time, and it was just so much fun,” Wade Shoemaker recounted with a laugh.
Noting that many ranch kids could probably relate, Kassandra Shoemaker said goodheartedly that weekends were not a vacation from school. The family spent countless hours together in the saddle at the ranch.
When asked to recount a favorite childhood memory, she came to life telling the story of her dad asking her third-grade teacher if she could miss school to go help him work a big set of cows the next day.
“After confirming with my mother that it was OK, my dad asked the teacher that night at parent-teacher conferences if I could go, and she said that considering my grades were great and I did well in school, she didn’t see the problem with me missing a day to go do something like that,” Shoemaker said. “My dad would always quote Mark Twain to never let schooling get in the way of a good education.”
Leveling up
Growing up, Shoemaker and her family spent weekends attending rodeos and Wyoming Steer Roping Association (WSRA) events. Although she participated in rodeos and gymkhanas off-and-on growing up, it wasn’t until her senior year of high school that Shoemaker took a bigger interest in participating in rodeos herself.
In the fall of her senior year, she rodeoed in the Colorado High School Rodeo Association’s breakaway roping, team roping and barrel racing. The following spring, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and with more time on her hands, Shoemaker began spending more and more time in the roping arena.
“I hate to say that I’m thankful COVID happened, but I really am, because it just helped me realize how much I loved the roping and horse training,” Shoemaker said. She said that it all really snowballed from there.
Through a lot of hard work and dedication, it’s not surprising that the valedictorian of her graduating class was awarded a Daniels Fund Scholarship, which she put towards her education at the University of Wyoming (UW). In the height of COVID-19, Shoemaker completed her first year of college remotely.
“I stayed home and kept some outside colts, and I really just rode. I moved cows, helped on the ranch, and roped. And that’s all I did. That was absolutely a huge turning point in my life,” Shoemaker said.
She racked up some pretty notable accolades in her time at UW, but one of the most exciting is being the first female steer roper named Rookie of the Year in the WSRA in 2023. She is now continuing her college rodeo career at Kansas State University, where she is in her first year of vet school. On top of that, she still manages to compete in the professional and amateur rodeo circuits.
Shoemaker decided to take her steer roping to the next level and compete on her ProRodeo permit in 2024. She brought home her first win at the Yuma County Fair & Rodeo, where she went 45.6 seconds on three head. Her win marked the first win by a woman at a ProRodeo steer roping event in modern times.
“The last run in Yuma, I was worried about her potentially overthinking things, because she’s obviously very, very intelligent and very much a competitor,” Wade Shoemaker said. “The music was loud; she was second to last out in the perf. I was talking her through things, and she goes, ‘Dad, this is so cool.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh heck, she’s gonna be fine.’”
Growing her network
Throughout the years of tagging along to steer ropings with her dad, Shoemaker developed an expansive network of supporters, mentors and people willing to lend some encouraging advice. When she was a pre-teen, the WSRA incorporated a breakaway event for competitors’ family members, which was Shoemaker’s first step into competing in the organization.
“The WSRA is filled with great people. Guys like Troy Tillard and Colt Bruegman have really helped me out,” she said. “I’ve had some really great people like Sid Howard take me under their wing down in Texas. They’re all just wonderful people.”
The support goes beyond the encouraging words before a run. The steer roping world has created a tight-knit family that pushes each other to constantly better themselves and succeed.
“Those guys are not only huge cheerleaders, but they believe in my abilities enough to coach me and give me tips,” Shoemaker said. “I can’t mention Don Ed Eddleman enough, there’s been a couple of ropings where he’s put me on his own horse to rope, and he is always in my corner. I’m there to get better, just like everyone else, and they really treat me as an equal.”
Strong foundations
Between school and rodeo, Shoemaker is constantly on the go. She said that one of the main reasons she loves steer roping so much is because it is an opportunity for the family to spend quality time together. Her younger brother, Coy, is also steer roping in the college division this year.
Every summer the family makes the journey to Don King Days outside of Sheridan, WY, where the steer roping is held on the polo fields at the base of the scenic Big Horn Mountains. Shoemaker was the first female to ever rope steers at the event.
“It helps us get to spend a lot of time together as a family, especially since we are all so busy,” Shoemaker said. “It brings us together, slows us down, and keeps us in one spot for a little while, and that really is the best part.”
Shoemaker says that her parents were a dynamic combination that truly set her up for success in everything that she does. An extremely humble young woman, her immense gratitude towards the people in her corner pours out of her in every aspect of life.
“My dad is a great horseman, vet, businessman and cattleman,” Shoemaker said. “And there are very few men that can outwork my mother. She set a great precedent in terms of just because you’re a girl does not mean you can’t work as hard as the men next to you.”
If you see Shoemaker at a rodeo or steer roping event, you will probably see a gaggle of little girls flocking around her. Her notoriety has captured young cowgirls’ attention across the West. She loves to visit with them all, learning about their horses, what events they participate in and how their season is going. She chats with their parents and often receives videos of the girls’ runs throughout the season.
“Everyone starts as a beginner,” Shoemaker said. “I think the coolest part of this whole deal is showing young girls that opportunity is waiting for them and that there is a support system out there for them.”
Shoemaker knows the value of a great support system to encourage and challenge you in life.
“I owe a huge majority of my success to the people around me. It’s really important to surround yourself with those people that believe in you and want you to succeed,” Shoemaker said.
After vet school, Shoemaker hopes to focus on large animal and performance equine, and help fill the shortage of veterinarians in rural areas. She plans on continuing to juggle rodeo, ranching and family time on top of her work.
“It comes down to trusting God’s plan for my life. I know that He’ll put me wherever I need to be,” she finished. “I had to trust Him to get out here, and it ended up working out exactly how it needs to, so I hope all of those things are in my future.”
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