Shiloh Napp Savoring Journey as 33-Year-Old Breakaway Roping Rookie

Shiloh Napp couldn’t hide the emotions. Her wide eyes and smile gave it all away without even trying.

As part of the Resistol Rookie Roundup in Fort Worth in late April, up-and-coming rodeo competitors were given the chance to engage with some of pro rodeo’s biggest supporters and sponsors, as well as other rookies trying to establish themselves in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) or Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA).

Most of the athletes at the Cowtown Coliseum were barely in their 20s. Many have been competing at junior, collegiate or professional rodeos for quite some time. The glitz of pyrotechnics and pre-competition light shows have become old hat. The roar of several thousand onlookers is expected.

Standing among them was Napp, a 33-year-old mother of four. A woman whose rodeo career had seemingly ended while many of her fellow competitors were in elementary school.

Her face couldn’t hide it. While others appeared calm and collected, Napp was clearly relishing the unexpected moment.

“I am the little kid in the candy store and all these other kids, the 19 and 20 year olds, are like, ‘Oh my gosh, what is wrong with this old lady?’ But I can’t help it,” Napp said with a laugh. “To actually have the opportunity now, it blows my mind. How can you girls not just be skipping and dancing and excited, because I am.”

A Different Path

Being a wife and mother was always in Napp’s plans – it just happened quicker than she thought.

Growing up in Sundance, Wyoming on a 40,000-acre cattle ranch, Napp was around the western lifestyle and rodeo from birth. Her father, Jim Hadley, is a PRCA Gold Card member. Her mother, Trina Shane Powers-Hadley, is a Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee and former national assistant director of the WPRA. Her maternal grandfather was among the founding Turtle members of the PRCA.

Napp found her passion in goat tying, roping and basketball. Her knees, however, had different intentions.

As a teen and young adult, injury almost became the status quo. Napp had four significant incidents, including ACL tears, that set her on a different course.

“After the fourth time in college, it broke me. I was done. I didn’t want to try again. I didn’t want to work to come back. I just wanted to have a family and have kids. So I did,” Napp said. “I got married and had four kids. I had not roped or really rode in the last decade because I was just being a mom.”

She met her husband, Andrew, in college. He works as a horse trainer and team roper, running the agricenter facility in Meridian, Mississippi. Together, they have four children ranging in age from 3-8 years old. Napp was perfectly content being a stay-at-home mom, organizing homeschool lessons and raising her kids.

Medical issues halted her career – a decade later, another medical emergency helped restart it.

About seven months ago, Napp was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Along with the need for a partial hysterectomy, she had to address an inflamed appendix and ruptured cyst, all of which was causing significant problems.

Following the operation, Napp went to stay with her parents as they have a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at home, helping expedite the healing process.

Sitting on the couch one day, Napp and her mother were watching The Cowboy Channel to pass time. The question came out of nowhere, taking Napp by surprise. Her mother asked if she wanted to rope again.

“I said, ‘Yeah, of course. That’s always something I loved to do but it wasn’t really something I thought about ever doing.’ Breakaway, when I quit, was not what it is today and I just never thought it would be,” Napp said.

Thanks to some smart investments, her parents were going to receive a payout from a company they had put money in. There were two options – reinvest in the company or invest in restarting Napp’s career.

More than a decade removed from her last competitive run, Napp decided to give roping another chance.

“I now look back over my life at all the hard stuff and overcoming those surgeries and the workouts and all the things I did. I would limp up the stairs in our barn on my crutches and go rope the dummy because that’s all I could do,” Napp said. “Back then, I just thought, ‘Man, I’m wasting my time.’ It’s paying off now.”

Shiloh Napp credits her horse, Evelyn, for being a big part of her success since returning to competition. | Ann Morse/Palo Pinto County Livestock Association

The Perfect Equine Partnership

Easing back in. That was Napp’s intent when it came to restarting her career.

And then, she met Evelyn.

Through friends, Napp got in contact with Maci Berry, a Weatherford, Texas cowgirl and horse trainer who happens to be the sister of bareback rider Leighton Berry, a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier.

Napp had seen some photos of horses Berry had for sale and was particularly fond of one. But Berry wanted Napp to check out "this yellow horse.” She thought Eveyln might fit what Napp was looking for.

“She sent me the video and I started crying. I said, ‘Mom, this is the horse,’” Napp said. “Because of my knees, I always pull my feet when I stop because it hurts so bad. Maci taught this mare and she made her so broke you can do anything you want on her. But she squeezes when she stops and that’s how she cues that mare – and that’s exactly what I needed.”

Napp had planned to use the next year or so to season a horse, preparing for the opportunity to compete at higher level down the road. Instead, she drove to Weatherford and picked up something that was competition-ready.

Back in Mississippi, Napp has been known to turn Evelyn out in the practice arena, only to watch the horse load up in the box on her own and make a run, unprompted and without a rider.

Napp and Evelyn had some strong showings in qualifying competitions for The American Rodeo in late 2023, finishing just shy of making it to Arlington, Texas for the big event.

It all came to a head in Odessa, Texas at the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in January. About four months after purchasing Evelyn, Napp loaded in the box and focused for a run at a WPRA-sponsored event. The result – a third place showing, resulting in more than $3,300 in earnings.

Suddenly, easing in was no longer an option.

“Big arenas where the music is just blowing the roof off, she is just as cool as a cucumber. She loves it. It blows me away,” Napp said. “She is a rockstar all on her own. I can just go rope. I don’t have to worry about her.”

Ready To Make A Run

The money from Odessa and a win at the 96th annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo in March helped Napp get to a place she still couldn’t believe – the Resistol Rookie Roundup.

The event is dedicated to first-year rodeo competitors based on their standings against other rookies.

Napp qualified as the breakaway roping rookie leader going in, a spot she still currently occupies.

After tying for second in the first-go and placing second in the finals at the Roundup, Napp has more than $11,000 in earnings that count towards the race for Resistol Rookie of the Year. The money she earned at the event does not count towards the overall world standings, putting Napp at about $8,600 earned so far and among the top 55.

It’s been a learning curve to understand how things have changed in rodeo since she stepped away, but the challenge has been exciting.

“When I quit rodeoing, the Rookie of the Year wasn’t as big a deal. Yes, you wanted to get it, but to me it was more important to get to the Finals than it was for the rookie,” Napp said. “Now, I’m like, ‘Wow, this rookie thing is a big deal.’ And I’m so grateful for it. That’s my goal now is to win the Rookie this year and get to the Finals. So I’m trying to focus on getting into those bigger rodeos and things like that to help with that.”

Once again, those well-intended plans are being amended, allowing Napp to chase a dream she thought she had put to bed.

With help from her family and use of a tour bus, everyone will be loading up to hit the road in the coming months. Through the middle of June, Napp has two or more rodeos scheduled for every weekend, with plans to hit Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and the Dakotas later this summer. One event stands out among them all – Cheyenne Frontier Days. The world’s largest outdoor rodeo in late July was a family tradition when she was a child. For the first time, Napp will get to run at one of the sports most historic competitions.

“To me, that’s almost like the NFR. That’s the biggest bucket list,” Napp said. “I grew up going there. My family had tickets behind the bucking chutes. That was the one thing we got to leave the ranch and go do.”

The excitement in Napp’s voice as she talks about all of this is easy to hear. It’s truly an unexpected but welcome journey, a blessing she isn’t taking for granted.

Succeeding is its own reward, but it’s made even more special by those she gets to share it with. Seeing the look on the faces of her children as mom swings a rope is as important as the buckle and payout she’s chasing.

It’s not the dream she once envisioned and it was certainly delayed, but ultimately it was not denied. And as Napp redefines the idea of a rookie, she’s glad to show her kids – and herself – what’s possible when you don’t give up.

“I don’t think they thought mom did anything else, so for them it has been a shock. They’re kind of like, ‘Wow, mom’s kind of cooler than we thought,’” Napp said with a laugh. “It feels like a dream and I keep waiting to wake up – but I haven’t yet, so I just keep going with it.”