Chester, South Carolina is home to roughly 5,000 people—and one of them is high school senior Carmen Oates. Carmen has put her name on the map as a powerful breakaway roper and a young lady whose drive and determination are sure to take her far in the rodeo world.
Carmen’s parents, Chris and Opal Oates, put her on a horse when she was a baby, and it didn’t take long before she was burning up the rodeos as a five-year-old. Her family was a part of the rodeo world, with her mother Opal having been a high school rodeo competitor in goat tying, barrel racing, and pole bending.
Carmen started out competing in pole bending and barrel racing before trying out some breakaway roping. When she started roping, she was borrowing other peoples’ horses and didn’t have an arena or place with calves to practice. As a result, she gravitated toward barrel racing and continued with that for several years. She then got her own rope horse and got back into the roping while continuing with her barrel racing. When her barrel horse was severely injured, her parents explained that to purchase another barrel horse she’d need to sell her rope horse. She did so, but then in junior high was able to purchase another rope horse.
When she reached high school rodeo things began to change. She was catching consistently and roping well.
Today, she is a senior in high school and has switched to competing exclusively in the Southern Rodeo Association (SRA), the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA), and in jackpots—all as a breakaway roper.
Carmen loves how roping requires a good horse but also a lot of personal practice and discipline, whereas she feels in barrel racing there are less things for the rider to practice separate from the horse.
You’ll find her at the rodeos on either a roan or a black horse with a Dub Grant rope in hand. In the summer, she uses a 10.0 4-strand gold and in the winter a 10.0 3-strand white. Her roan gelding Blue is currently her main mount. She got Blue halfway through her sophomore year of high school and credits him with taking her roping to the next level. He is a solid horse; strong across the line and sets her up to be fast and competitive.
On the horizon is her black mare Darla. Darla has been to a few jackpots and will soon be taken on the rodeo road. She is the first rope horse Carmen has ever trained and is not only a source of pride for Carmen but has also been a great trial and error horse, teaching Carmen how to approach future training prospects with what works and what could be improved. Carmen’s dad Chris has also been really helpful in helping her learn different methods.
When not in school, Carmen is often keeping her horses legged up or roping. Blue knows his job pretty well, so Carmen will just make a few good runs on him and then score some. With Darla, every practice session is different depending on what it seems like Darla needs some work on.
In addition to keeping her horses sharp, Carmen works on her own skills. She ropes her Nex dummy every day or every other day and also really enjoys her 7K Something Horse and Calf Sled setup to help with her balance and specific roping practice points.
As she finishes up her senior year of high school, she looks to the future with hopes of one day roping in some bigger rodeos in Texas. She is also excited to see the sport continue to grow here on the East Coast. In the meantime, she plans to stay local and study Radiology at the local college. After college, she hopes to buy her IPRA card.
She maintains a positive mindset and remembers that it’s all about having fun and it’s a hobby—one bad run doesn’t define her as a roper.
Carmen is also very appreciative to her parents for all the support they give her, from hauling her to a rodeo every weekend to keeping calves around for practice.
Follow Carmen’s roping journey with the SRA and IPRA in SC, NC, GA, and beyond.
all photo credit to respective photographers.
