Gracie Fritts attitude and faith are as notable as her roping talent. The Lexington, North Carolina cowgirl has had her fair share of setbacks on the rodeo road. Rather than become discouraged, she has allowed it to shape her outlook in a way that lets her enjoy the game and appreciate her horses and the God-given opportunities before her.
This sense of priorities has been instilled in her from a young age. Gracie grew up around horses and rodeo culture. While her mom wasn’t initially involved with it, her dad was, as a bull rider and active rodeo supporter.
While she did a good bit of losing in the arena while growing up, Gracie just enjoyed being there and having such a strong community of people to share life with. For most of her childhood, barrel racing and goat tying were her focus. She competed in a youth rodeo association, the Yadkin Valley Youth Rodeo Association, and then when it went defunct she moved to another youth rodeo association.
When Gracie turned 16 and started high school rodeo, she got a nicer horse named Minnie who helped her get started. She then decided she wanted to get into the breakaway and had an older rope horse named Monkey Jo. Monkey Jo was a powerhouse in the roping in high school rodeo and between he and Minnie she competed in barrels, poles, and breakaway. Gracie even made it to the National High School Finals in Gillete, Wyoming in barrel racing. Sadly, Monkey Jo colicked and passed away, becoming the first loss of a horse she had a real bond with.
Gracie needed another rope horse and sold Minnie to purchase her current main mount, a sorrel gelding out of Texas named Raymond. They started out their first month together strong, and then he fractured his leg bone, putting him out for almost a year. When he healed from that and they started back up again, Raymond split the same leg open just 6 months later.
Because of this, Gracie has been jump riding other people’s horses and is so appreciative of the opportunity. She also has a young palomino mare she is bringing along named Mabel.
While she is competitive and wants to win, Gracie feels like everyday she gets to ride or compete on a healthy horse and return home safely is truly a blessing. She knows if she misses the calf it doesn’t affect whether there will be supper on the table or not and also trusts God has a plan unfolding for her. Her horses come first, no matter what, and are always the first to be attended to after a run.
Like her desire to put her horse’s needs above her own, most of her roping skill set has come from her dad’s careful instruction. She also benefited from the guidance of her best friend’s parents. Growing up, she would spend every summer with them around their horse training business and learned so many valuable horsemanship lessons about how to read a horse and provide them with a solid foundation. She knows the importance of hard work and is swinging her rope (a King 4 strand 9.5 or Rattler Viper) several days a week.
With her high school rodeo days behind her, Gracie has been competing in the Southern Rodeo Association (SRA) circuit and trying to balance that with her academic and career goals. She dreams of being a nurse, a dream inspired by her mother who is a labor and delivery nurse and whom Gracie says she aspires to be like. She is currently completing her prerequisites for nursing school and will then apply in February.
Gracie’s perspective will undoubtedly be a blessing to many patients in the nursing world and an inspiration for other ropers struggling with identity in the highs and lows of rodeo. For this and their ongoing support, she celebrates her parents.
All photo credit to respective photographers (marked on photos) as well as Lyn Johnson and Rebecca Beatty Equine Photography.
Gracie I am so proud of you, are one in a million, you work so hard and care so much about your horse, love you always !❤️😊👏