FWSSR photo by James Phifer
From Tragedy to Triumph: The Rise of Ashley Castleberry and Skyy Blue
Everything happens for a reason. Unfortunately, this is something we have all had to remind ourselves of from time to time. Labor Day weekend, 2022, Ashley Castleberry experienced a devastating trailer accident resulting in the loss of her horse, Dunny, and what most would consider a career-ending injury to her main mount, Stormy. With no horses and no plans, the obvious choice was to go home and re-group. Little did she know, she would soon be reminded how everything truly does happen for a reason.
We've all heard the saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day," but if you ask Castleberry, the partnership between her and 11-year-old gelding Skyy Blue was "a perfect fit from the start." However, even the most perfect partnerships have their highs and lows.
The duo has been no stranger to the winner's circle since their first run together, where they won the jackpot by seven-tenths of a second. More recently, they have been lighting the rodeo road up, especially with their clean sweep in Bracket 5 at the prestigious Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
Between all of the career highlights and wins, it wasn't always so easy. Seasoning a horse to the rodeo atmosphere can be one of the most difficult things to master, and each individual has their unique experience.
Fighting with the occasional ducked barrel, Castleberry turned to fellow barrel racer Ivy Hurst for advice, and the two decided Skyy could be trying to tell them something. Sure enough, he had been battling some soreness issues, and after some time off and a decision to switch to the left barrel first, he was back to his usual winning ways and ready to hit the road.
Believe it or not, whenever they set out for the road this past summer (2023), Castleberry had no plans for Skyy Blue and classified him as the backup horse on the trailer. It wasn't until he started to win rodeos out of the slack that Castleberry decided to put some pressure on him.
She ran him in his first performance of the summer on June 30 at St. Paul, Ore., where he set the arena record and officially earned the title of No. 1 horse on the trailer.
Fun fact: Skyy tends to be easily distracted by all of the sights to see at the rodeos and still, to this day, makes every run with earplugs in.
Ashley Castleberry and Skyy Blue at the 2024 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
Photo courtesy of Kenneth Springer
This year looks a little different for Castleberry's team, as she mentions this is the first year she has had some money won going into the spring and summer rodeos.
She hopes to keep the momentum going into the big winter rodeos coming up and has goals of winning as much money as possible so that she can make the summer as easy as she can on her horses.
With a trailer full of horsepower, including her "old faithful" Calfee Stormy Dash, Skyy Blue, and an up-and-coming sibling of Stormy, there is no doubt that her goals are well within her reach.
Look for Ashley Castleberry and Skyy Blue in Semifinals Round A of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on Thursday, Feb. 1st at 7:30 PM CST, where she hopes to get one step closer to her goal of an NFR back number.
