B5
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021
Oregon teen is a bull-riding daredevil
‘I HAVEN’T BROKEN ANY
BONES FROM BULL RIDING YET.
THANK GOODNESS.’
By JULE GILFILLAN
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Fourteen-year-old Najiah
Knight is friendly, outgo-
ing and responds to questions
with “yes, ma’am” as refl ex-
ively as most adolescents roll
their eyes.
But those aren’t the only
qualities that make the poised,
polite teen unique. This
80-pound daredevil rides 800-
pound “mini” bulls because
“it’s soooo much fun!”
Rodeo is a big part of
small-town life across Ore-
gon, and tiny Arlington on the
Columbia Plateau is no excep-
tion. For as long as there have
been ranch hands, riders and
stock animals, there have been
rodeos to see who could rope-
and-tie that calf quickest or
ride that big bull the longest.
Traditionally, girls like
Knight have competed in
horseback sports like barrel
racing or pole bending (a sort
of high-speed slalom where
horse and rider weave through
a course of closely spaced
poles). But from her earliest
days, Knight has been follow-
ing her father, Andrew Knight,
behind the chutes as he pre-
pared for bull riding events
and begging him to “put me
on!”
“She wanted to always
get on something, before she
could even dang near walk,”
he said. “And I’m like, you’re
too little, your time will come.”
That time came when
Knight turned 3 and started
riding sheep, a sport known as
“mutton busting.”
Najiah Knight | 14-year-old rodeo competitor
Phillip Kitts
Najiah Knight competing on a mini bull.
“She was a champion mut-
ton buster. I mean, she just
gripped on there like Velcro.
And there wasn’t no getting
her off ,” her father recalled.
“From there on, there was
really no holding her back.”
Along with being the fi rst
girl riding with the Mini Bull
Riders circuit, Knight made
history in early 2020, when
she was the fi rst girl to ride a
bull at Madison Square Gar-
den in New York City. She
also beat all her (male) com-
petitors in the third round.
Standing out is something
she’s gotten used to.
“Sometimes you feel like
you’re just part of the boys.
Like, you don’t feel any diff er-
ent and they just accept you.
But sometimes they’ll be like,
‘So I can’t get beat by a girl.’
But, you know, you just gotta
show him who’s boss,” Knight
joked.
Still, rodeo sports are about
as dangerous as they come and
having your daughter compet-
ing at elite levels (Knight was
ranked number seven at the
time of her Madison Square
Garden appearance) would
give any parent pause.
“My stomach goes up and
down, probably every rodeo,”
her father confessed. One
close call at a competition in
Louisiana is a prime example.
“She got a little out of posi-
tion, got jerked down to the
ground, got her face mask
caved in. (The bull) stepped
on her mask, pushed it into her
eye and swelled her eye shut,”
her father said. “But because
she had another bull she had
to get on that day, they said
‘you don’t have to get on this
bull if you don’t want.’ But she
was like, ‘I didn’t travel this
far to sit here and watch.’ She
showed everybody that she
was there to compete.”
“I haven’t broken any
bones from bull riding yet.
Thank goodness,” Knight
said, rubbing the scar, now
barely visible beside her right
eye. Knight demonstrates
impressive maturity when
asked about the possibility of
mortal injury.
“I know if it’s my time,
COMING IN MAY
M
Seeking fi nancial support for son
Dear Annie: My son, there if he wants to talk about can’t seem to carry on a con-
“Tim,” is engaged to “Jen- things. Off er an empathetic versation with him with-
nifer,” a woman whom he’s ear. If he asks for it, then out him getting mad. Yet, he
been seeing for many years. off er your perspective. But doesn’t appear to be on drugs
They have two small chil- whatever you do, quit off er- or drinking.
dren together. My problem is ing your soon-to-be daugh-
We really don’t know what
that Jennifer will not get a job. ter-in-law the classifi eds sec- to do at this point. We’ve
Tim supports all of them. She tion. Because despite our best always still invited him to
used to work, before
(and well-intended) church with us whenever we
their fi rst child, but
eff orts, our loved ones go, but he never wants to go
DEAR
has not since.
have this pesky thing with us. Any suggestions for
ANNIE
We have all hinted
called free will — me? — Worried About My
to her about getting
and we need to accept Son
a job and even found
that fact if we want to
Dear Worried: Living for
jobs for her, but her
have healthy relation- decades with the disease of
answer is always the
ships with them.
addiction can warp one’s per-
same: “I can’t put
Dear
Annie: spective — and I’m not just
my kids in day care!
I have a 45-year- referring to your son. You,
Nobody knows them ANNIE LANE old son who is my too, have been living with
Creators
there.” Well, sure —
whole life. But he has the disease, and it’s equally
Syndicate Inc.
nobody is going to
always been in and important that you seek recov-
know them if they are
out of the drug scene. ery. There are many resources
always home and don’t meet He has two sons of his own, available, including ther-
new kids and people.
neither of which will speak to apy; books such as Melody
Tim and Jennifer plan on him, me or anyone else in our Beattie’s “Codependent No
getting married in the next family. This, even though he More”; and programs such
couple of years, and I feel like has always worked and paid as Nar-Anon (nar-anon.org/
she’s taking advantage of him. his child support. He does virtual-meetings), Al-Anon
Her mom was the same way have a temper that is out of (al-anon.org), or LifeRing
when she was growing up. this world.
Recovery (lifering.org).
Help! What can a person do?
Almost 10 years ago, he
While it’s still diffi cult to
He shouldn’t have to work his started going to church and meet up in person for many
butt off to support all of them. was even baptized and saved. of us, Nar-Anon and LifeR-
— Mama Needs Help
Now, he’s done a 180-degree ing are holding online meet-
Dear Mama: I understand turn — yet again. He does not ings via video conferencing,
your protectiveness: He’ll work, and he is currently liv- and Al-Anon hosts telephone
always be your little boy. ing with his father and me. meetings in addition to online
But he’s also a grown man, I try to talk with him, but I meetings.
and if he is unhappy with the
dynamics with Jennifer —
which isn’t even clear, based
on your letter — then it’s on
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then it’s my time. But it’s not
my time yet, so I’m doing
pretty good. Jesus is bless-
ing me. Thank goodness,” she
said. “So, yeah, I’m not afraid
to get back on it all. I just, you
know, shake it off and I’m
ready to ride.”
That strong faith will be
needed to achieve her big
goals.
“My short-time, I guess
you can call it, is to be num-
ber one this year. Number one
in the world. Champion,” she
said.
The coronavirus pandemic
put a crimp into Knight’s
packed schedule of compe-
titions as well as her plans
to win that championship in
2020. But she’s looking for-
ward to this year and getting
one year closer to her 18th
birthday.
“My longtime goal is to be
the fi rst girl in the PBR.”
PBR stands for Profes-
sional Bull Riders. Knight
aspires to compete in the
group’s “Unleash the Beast,”
a circuit that includes the top
bull riders from all over the
world. As an Indigenous Pai-
ute and member of the Klam-
ath Tribes, Knight hopes to
represent the U.S. as part of
“Team Wolves” in the Pro-
fessional Bull Riders’s Global
Cup, a sort of Olympics of bull
riding.
“There’s two American
teams: Team Eagles and then
Team Wolves, which is the
Natives. I would be part of
Team Wolves because I am
Native. I think that would be
so cool.
“Four more years,” Knight
grins.
A
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A
Z
I
N
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