Page 40 - May 2018 Speedhorse

Stevi and Ty Hillman merge their passions and talents to help others succeed.
by Diane Rice
Her “late-life” start in competitive barrel racing made 31-year-old Stevi Hillman an unlikely candidate for a world title. Yet, she finished 2016, her inaugural year at the NFR, ranked 11th in the world and topped that as eighth in 2017.
In contrast, Stevi’s husband, Ty, grew up with rodeo. He started college in 2004 at Weatherford (Texas) College on a full-ride rodeo scholarship, finished his business degree at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, then worked in customer service and marketing, respectively, for United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC) and National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). Then the roper and self-proclaimed rodeo husband combined his experience with his heart for helping people by launching his career as a success coach in March 2016 (visit facebook.com/preparetowin.tv/).
Now, in addition to Stevi’s barrel competitions and Ty’s success coaching, the couple coaches others by holding clinics with Stevi covering training and arena work, and Ty covering mental preparation. “They [USTRC and NCHA] provided some really great business experience and it all came together with Stevi and rodeo,” Ty says.
YOUTHFUL YEARNINGS
Although Stevi grew up on her grandparents’ Ordway, Colorado farm property surrounded by siblings Amber, Crystal, Cody and Charlie and several cousins, Stevi didn’t actively compete in barrels until after high school. “Stevi didn’t grow up like me, who got to go to all the junior and high school rodeos,” Ty says.
But she loved to ride — fast. “When I was really little on my grandparents’ farm, I liked the
challenge of getting the horse to go around the barrels as fast as he could,” she says.
She also loved the challenge of training a horse from the ground up. Her stepdad, Dave Salzbrenner, who married Stevi’s mom, Sheila, in 1993 when Stevi was 7 years old, trained and showed AQHA and was Stevi’s inspiration.
“My stepdad is the one who really molded me at a young age to train horses,” Stevi says. “I watched him train in the round pen and I watched the NFR and all the trainers. I knew that was the lifestyle I really wanted.”
“When she was 10 or 12 years old, I’d help her swing up on a horse that I was working in the round pen, and she’d ride as I was longeing it, with nothing on its head or back, just sitting up there bareback,” Dave says. “I’d step out in front of one and make it roll back and she didn’t
38 SPEEDHORSE May 2018