Simpsonville, South Carolina’s Rhegan Greene has always been a go-getter with a love for horses. Her Nana rode English her whole life and as soon as her family discovered Rhegan shared that passion for horses, they ensured she got more animal time, like a birthday party with a lead-around pony and plenty of Breyer horses to dream with at home.
With a supportive family behind her, she started taking English riding lessons when she was very young and continued them until she was about 9 or 10. At that point, she wanted to try something new, which wound up being karate. Rhegan was able to get top-notch instruction as she took lessons from “Wonderboy” Stephen Thompson. But then, after a year or so of karate, she went on a family outing that changed everything.
Her family signed up for a trail ride with Jerry Cooper at Black Horse Run in Fountain Inn. As they watched Jerry do his riding demo and prep them for the ride she realized this was the kind of thing she wanted to be around. Bold as ever, she asked Jerry for a job. He told her to come back in a few years when she was older. She took his advice but didn’t wait long, returning to him as a 13-year-old ready to go to work.
Rhegan worked for Jerry for three years and gained a strong foundation not only in the basics of horsemanship but also through an understanding of horse’s anatomy.
She even purchased her first horse from him, paying $650 for a sorrel mare named Cheyenne. Cheyenne was a saint in disguise and helped Rhegan learn to barrel race and pole bend while also allowing her to compete in the Foothills Rodeo Association.
It was during a Foothills event where she got her first glimpse of breakaway roping. Rhegan was fascinated with the thought that people could multitask and swing a rope while they ride. She was determined to become one of those people. She had the tools in place, and with her good muscle memory and balance from riding English, her understanding of horses from Jerry Cooper, and then roping instruction from Kolby Whitesell in Marietta, she soon found herself ready to rope.
With her skills up to par, she needed a step-up horse. She found the perfect horse in a Peppy San Badger mare she purchased from Kolby Whitesell. The mare was named Georgia and she now calls her Peach. Rhegan also found a new home for Cheyenne, selling her to a family who has had great success on the National Barrel Horse Association circuit with her.
Peach is her heart horse, and together they spent the last year going up and down the coast with friends hitting Southern Rodeo Association (SRA) and International Pro Rodeo Association (IPRA) rodeos. This was a big learning experience for Rhegan as she realized the importance of mindset and how different your roping can be from the practice pen to the rodeo if your mindset isn’t the same. Despite the learning curve, she and Peach qualified for the American Rodeo as an eastern region breakaway contender.
She now has a new outlook on approaching rodeos and is excited for the rodeos to come with refreshed confidence and enthusiasm.
With this new outlook comes certainty in her approach.
If you ask Rhegan about her favorite rope, she’ll quickly point to the longevity of a Willard. If you ask her about advice for the next generation, she’ll teach you about perseverance:
“Never give up. Even if you don’t come from a rodeo family, even if you fail, keep trying and don’t get disappointed in yourself. You may fail 5 times but the 6th time may be the change.”
True to her own advice, Rhegan is sticking with it and chasing her dreams on the breakaway circuit.
All photo credit to the respective photographers, including Rachel Loucks RFlyingL Photography, Haley Johnson of Haley Johnson Photography, and Alysia Hargus of Alysia Hargus Photography.
