Canadian-born cowgirl Shelby Boisjoli has made her mark on the foundation of the breakaway roping industry, gaining acclaim with quick catches, hard stops, and fast times.
Growing up in a rodeo family, Shelby was riding alongside her sisters at a young age. No stranger to hard work, her father never bought her and her siblings’ expensive finished horses, but instead taught them the value of making their quality mounts through lots of wet saddle blankets. Perhaps the most impactful of these childhood horses was Flop, who carried Shelby and each of her sisters to provincial titles from grades six to twelve. This amazing gelding taught her what a good breakaway horse should feel like and provides the standard for what she looks for in horses today.
Through those formative years, Shelby always wanted to be a tough roper, never willing to be the girl that tied on in team roping, determined to hold her own against whatever the men could do. She found roping empowering, as it was an activity that didn’t require outstanding physical athleticism but rather with work and practice a woman could easily compete with men.
While she loved Canada and felt the quality of ropers was just as good as it is stateside, she was drawn to the numbers of ropers and opportunities in the US and made the trip over with her sister to pursue her dreams here.
This decision has proven fruitful. Her dreams have taken off, and she has a strong community cheering her on. Despite the constant spotlight and success, she is quick to credit her parents, her peers, her boyfriend, and her horses for making the ride possible.
While she ropes with the poise of a lady and the precision of a surgeon, her success centers around her horsemanship. She sees this as an ever-developing art that she practices through her love for training young horses. This love is motivating and has led to the beginning of her training business Heart B Horses. Since founding Heart B Horses, she has taken a variety of young horses from cutting and cow horse disciplines to build upon. With an eye for big hips and nice stops, she sees the talent that can be refined and developed for the ever-growing rope horse industry.
After getting them solid with scoring, handling the box, and learning to not overrun the sweet spot, she takes them to jackpots and puts a few miles on them. Often, boyfriend Haven Meged will step in and put some finishing calf horse buttons on them. With her horses Onna and Root Beer 6 and 10 years respectively, she has been able to ride them through their development and wishes more people were able to experience the amazing bond of knowing a horse inside and out.
Boisjoli doesn’t train for the money or the recognition. All of her life revolves around the idea that true success lies in one’s partnership with the horse. Her mental game even centers around confidence that comes from deciding to “not worry, just use my horse.” This mindset helps her be consistent, while the foundation of horses like Onna set her up for good shots and let her take the same shot often.
While her day-to-day life may be filled with riding and roping, Shelby has the strength of character that allows her to envision the long-term contributions she can make to the sport, in ways large and small. She encourages young ropers to work hard and never give up, even if they don’t feel like they have the funds, because if she can go from a Canadian girl roping hay bales to where she is now, anything is possible.
Not one for only talk and no action, she plans to pay it forward when it comes to the support and encouragement she has received in the world of breakaway. One such moment has earned a lasting spot in her heart.
Shelby had just roped in her first-ever NFBR finals in Arlington, TX and it didn’t go as she wanted it to. Although she was disappointed, she remembers feeling awestruck watching world title recipient Jackie Hobbs-Crawford accepting her saddle and buckle and telling her boyfriend Haven how she couldn’t believe she was among such greatness. Shelby was simply grateful to be there.
Not even an hour later, loaded up and headed home, her phone lit up with a text from none other than Jackie herself. The message was pure encouragement, telling Shelby to keep her chin up and that she was going to accomplish greater things.
Boisjoli was floored. In this huge moment in Jackie’s life, she had the character and compassion to reach out to a friend who didn’t have as successful an evening and let her know she was going to make it.
Shelby still has that message saved on her phone and is determined to show this same thoughtfulness to other ropers.
With that kind of character, Shelby Boisjoli will continue showing the world horsemanship comes first, and roping follows naturally. With her skill and mindset, it is no wonder two countries want to lay claim to her.
