Siblings enjoy different aspects of rodeo
Published 12:02 am Sunday, July 6, 2014
![SAm gause | The Natchez Democrat Coleman Holt, 12, practices calf coping on his horse Spirit at his family’s ranch Thursday. Coleman and his sister Sidney Holt both placed in events during the 2014 Southwest District 4-H Horse Show.](https:https://www.natchezdemocrat.com//wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/07/070614_ColemanHolt2_web_SG.jpg)
SAm gause | The Natchez Democrat
Coleman Holt, 12, practices calf coping on his horse Spirit at his family’s ranch Thursday. Coleman and his sister Sidney Holt both placed in events during the 2014 Southwest District 4-H Horse Show.
NATCHEZ — Sidney and Coleman Holt are a package deal when it comes to participating in local rodeos, and it would take an unlikely scenario to find one sibling participating without the other.
That’s because they’ve grown to love competing with one another.
Individually, Sidney, 10, has a passion for showing off her horse in mini mares, horsemanship, trail and pleasure, while Coleman, 12, has a knack for tying up calves at local events.
Unlike Coleman’s, Sidney’s event is more about elegance and grace, while Coleman’s participation requires grit, strength and precision. As gracefully as she showed her horse at the 2014 Mississippi Southwest 4-H Horse Show in the middle of June, Sidney explained her role in the competition.
“That’s when you go in on the ground and you have to walk in, and the judge tells you where to stand,” Sidney said. “You have to sneak your judges in there and once the judge comes by, then you have to walk around your horse before you see the judge.”
If you ask her about the best part, she’ll emphatically tell you it was about showing off her favorite horse, Delilah and being with her family. Well, that and her placing second in three competitions and first in one of them, which allowed her to qualify for the state horse show in Jackson.
Her older brother qualified as well. Coleman entered multiple calf roping competitions and finished fourth in breakaway roping, which is the best he’s ever placed and qualified him to make the trip to Jackson at the end of June with his sister.
Unfortunately, brother did not go, because sister had plans to get a new trailer for Delilah. Coleman and Sidney, son and daughter of Ed and Ruth Holt, took a family trip instead of competing in Jackson.
![Coleman and Sidney stand around with their horses Spirit, left, and My Girl, right at their family’s ranch Thursday.](https:https://www.natchezdemocrat.com//wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/07/070614_ColemanHolt1_web_SG-300x196.jpg)
Coleman and Sidney stand around with their horses Spirit, left, and My Girl, right at their family’s ranch Thursday.
“I was disappointed, but I was kind of happy too,” Sidney said. “I went to Texas to look for a trailer for the horses instead, so it wasn’t a bad trip.”
Sidney took an interest in showing horses after her sister, Ruthie Love Holt, 13, first started training her. Coleman, on the other hand, took an interest after 4-H President David Carter introduced him to calf roping and worked with him. As Coleman learned, training can be demanding at times.
“It’s a lot of work,” Coleman said. “We have a couple of dummies, and we practice two or three hours every day. We train and train and try to get a good time.”
With hard work comes preparation, and when Coleman feels prepared, he’s less nervous. He felt he was prepared at the 4-H regionals event, and quite frankly, he was more nervous for his little sister than he was for himself.
“I get more nervous for her because she has to go out and show her horse in front of everybody,” Coleman said. “I don’t get too nervous.”
Away from rodeos, Coleman enjoys hunting and fishing, while Sidney loves to bake and helps out once a week at Edna’s Cake Creations in Natchez.
Those are treasured hobbies for each sibling, but both said neither compares to competing alongside another at local youth rodeo events. Good luck catching one without the other.