ESCONDIDO, Calif. - Masyn Powers can barely see over the head of her horse "Sassy", but that doesn't keep her from riding faster than most girls her age - or even older.
"You learn really fast if you're really into it," said 8-year-old Powers.
In her first season of competition last year, the third grader from Escondido won enough first-place belt buckles to fill a trophy case.
"Usually the first comment is, 'Boy, that's a little girl on a big horse,'" said Powers' mother Renee. "Then they see her run and it's like, 'Wow.'"
"They're shocked that someone so small can go out there and compete," said Powers' father Earl. "But she's done very well."
At the California Junior Rodeo Association finals last November, Powers finished second in the overall Girls Pee Wee (8-years-old and under) division.
She only started riding in November 2010 after she made a bet with her parents that she could ride a sheep in the mutton busting contest at the Poway Rodeo in October 2010.
"We said if you can do that, we'll give you horseback riding lessons," Earl said.
"I'd been waiting for a long time and then we finally got in," Powers said. "I was so happy to ride it and we went to Poway just to get ready for the sheep and I rode it actually really good."
Little did Powers' parents know that a quick ride on the back of a sheep would lead to a life in the rodeo.
The pint-sized rider steers "Sassy" through the pole bending event and "Kit" in the barrel race. Both horses weigh more than 1,200 pounds, and Powers is just 42 pounds.
"She has more control than she would if she were leading her little dog down the road," said Destri Devenport, Powers' trainer at San Pasqual Valley Ranch. "She's kind of golden child I think. To be competing at the level she's competing at in her first year at eight years-old is unbelievable."
Powers rides at least three times a week and competes at rodeos once a month. She does more than just ride; she also ties goats and ropes - the other two events in girls rodeo.
Then at the end of the day, she cares for her two horses, which turned out to be one of the hardest parts.
"I thought it was going to be easy," Powers said. "Then it turned out it's not so easy to take care of two horses."
Powers has found it's all part of becoming a cowgirl.
