MARYBETH BEAM OF REGION IV

by Laramie Wedemyer

The Whataburger Whatakid is selected due to their ability to excel both in and out of the rodeo arena. Whataburger is proud to recognize a THSRA member from each of the ten Regions who truly upholds the title “Whatakid!” One of the nominees will be chosen at the State Final Rodeo in June as the Whatakid of the Year. In recognition of this accomplishment they will receive free Whataburgers for an entire year!

Congratulations to this month’s “WHATAKID,” MaryBeth Beam!

The Region IV, cowgirl from Poetry, Texas is blazing her own trail as a breakaway roper, businesswoman, and rancher. It is hard to find a more driven and passionate person than MaryBeth. Whether she is the arena, processing cattle on the ranch, or advocating for women in agriculture and rodeo, you will see a smile on her face, a heart to serve, and a fiery passion.

From a young age, she discovered a love to rodeo and rope. Growing up on a ranch taught her many valuable life lessons and is where she found a passion for wanting to rope at the rodeos.

MaryBeth explained that “ranching is where I got my roping ability from and a lot of other people along the way but outside of the arena, you have to learn how get a cow stopped when there aren’t any fences.”

At the age of five, she began competing in every event she could through Lone Star High School Rodeo Association and started region rodeoing her sixth grade year. She competed as an all-around cowgirl until it narrowed down to just breakaway roping and team roping.

MaryBeth competed in the breakaway roping and the team roping, heading and heeling, at regions this year. While she loves roping in general, she mentioned that breakaway roping is her favorite because of the excitement that comes from it and knowing it is just her and her horse getting the job done together.

The 18-year-old discovered her goals and is chasing after them full force. While people see the great accomplishments she is achieving, she has not had an easy road getting to this point. Overcoming many feats in her life has provided her with a greater sense of gratitude and purpose for what she gets to do.

On September 9, 2022, MaryBeth found herself in a freak accident where she got bucked off a horse in the pasture while working cattle. “When I hit the ground, my hip popped really loud and I knew it was broken,” she said. Her no quit attitude kept her working on it the rest of the day and the following day.

She kept telling herself she was fine, and it wasn’t that bad until she could no longer complete normal tasks or ride her horses without feeling excruciating pain. This was all leading up to the first region rodeo of the weekend. Fighting the pain, she competed that weekend, winning the breakaway during the Saturday rodeo and realizing something was really wrong on Sunday.

Like any major injury, MaryBeth was faced with the dreaded time off to let herself heal and recover. For someone extremely active every day and with bold goals set for the year, this was a tough pill to swallow.

After the doctor told her she would need to spend weeks in a wheelchair and months off a horse, she said, “it felt like all my dreams had just stopped for a few weeks. I felt really defeated and sitting in a wheelchair, much less the house for weeks was a terrible idea for me.”

Any athlete faces a moment where they have to make a decision of how they are going to respond in the face of hardship and curveballs being thrown into their paths.

MaryBeth said, “I told my mom I am either going to be determine or be defeated and I got really determined and learned ways to rope the dummy out of my wheelchair and sitting on a bucket or a ball so that I would not hurt myself.”

The week of her 18th birthday, she was released to get back on a horse and take it slow. If you know MaryBeth, slow is not in her vocabulary and a week later she entered her first roping back, on Thanksgiving weekend. Her determination during her time off and the ways she worked to be better set her up to rope multiple calves in under two seconds and win rounds immediately coming back off what could have been a career-ending injury.

Fast forward five months from her injury and MaryBeth is burning up the rodeo trail, chasing after a WPRA Rookie of the Year dream in the breakaway roping. Her mindset is one of the sharpest tools she has and it has allowed her to set bold goals and not be scared to chase them.

Not only does she practice in the arena and work on her roping, but practicing having a sharp mentality is a vital part of her daily routine. It is thanks to her mental coach, Donene Taylor, that she has learned how to have a mental plan before, during, and after each practice session, rodeo run, and daily occurrence in life, explained MaryBeth.

During the past year, she also started up her own business, Roping Gypsy. Roping Gypsy is an online retail store that she began by selling hats and t-shirts. The business grew overtime, especially during the period she was injured, to sale breakaway string, jewelry, handmade items for women and their horses, and more.

This became something that she could really tell her story through and share her love a Jesus in, also. She explained that it really caters towards the female roper and cowgirls in general.

Having a schedule as busy as she does and pursuing such large dreams, it is easier for MaryBeth to be homeschooled and complete her schoolwork at different times of the day or on the road as she travels.

After graduation, MaryBeth wants to attend school online to pursue an agricultural degree. When it comes to college rodeo, though, she is going to sit her first year out. With the goals she has set already, she explained that she would not be able to devote all her time to a team and that would be unfair to them.

“Pro Rodeos are my main priority right now because winning Rookie of the Year has been a big goal of mine for a long time and I am gonna catch my goal first before I add on a whole different side of rodeo,” MaryBeth said.

Along with her pursuit in rodeo, managing her business, and completing schoolwork, she has started up her own breeding program that she plans to continue advancing. The road ahead looks bright for MaryBeth. Setting bold goals is a big deal for her and no matter what they may be, she plans on chasing them down.

When she does have a moment of downtime, you can find her jumping in to lend a helping hand anywhere it is needed. Whether it is the arena, helping doctor a horse or cow, or volunteering in the community, she said she “loves any opportunity to serve others and wants to be the first one to step up to do it.”

A lot of her heroes and mentors come from the rodeo community, such as Martha Angelone, Lari Dee Guy and Donene Taylor, but her closest friend and biggest support is her mom.

“If it wasn’t for my mom, I don’t know what I would do,” exclaimed MaryBeth. “She is a really strong, fearless person and God-driven. The bond we have, a lot of people don’t get to have with their parents, and I am super blessed to have it with my mom. I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

MaryBeth shows so much gratitude and love for her region and region family. Being selected as the Region IV Whatakid was extremely special for her, especially considering it is her senior year and she was able to serve them even during the time she was hurt.

“I respect all of the adults in our region and for them to look upon me and know there are a thousand other kids in our region that they could have picked, and they picked me just made it so special,” expressed MaryBeth. “I felt very honored to be selected knowing that they recognized the hard work I put in even when I was hurt.”