BLACK FOREST, Colo. — Kaylee Gripentrog walks into the barn and starts brushing one of her horses.
"This horse has been in front of thousands of people with fireworks going off above her head," she said
"I wake up, I feed them and then work a couple barn jobs and go to online school, then I ride, get some chores done and feed them".
It’s an early morning outside Colorado Springs and Kaylee is doing what she loves.
"It’s a big part of my life. I probably spend about 6 hours a day every single day. In the hours I’m not with them, I’m thinking about them, but I wouldn't change it for anything", she says.
She’s a high school senior, but you could say she’s the Girl of the West
"So the Girl of the West is the official ambassador of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo", said Kaylee.
Kaylee has been named the Girl of the West for 2026. It's a program that started in 1922.
In the time leading up to the rodeo, she’ll make over a hundred public appearances.
"Rodeo is a big part of our community and I'm very blessed to have something like the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo here," she added.
For Kaylee, Colorado Springs has felt like the center of cowboy country, especially with the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame just off I-25 and Rockrimmon Boulevard.
But that might be changing soon.
After 48 years in Colorado Springs, it looks like it will all move up the road to Cheyenne.
Paul Woody said the move isn’t a reflection of the popularity of rodeos in Colorado like the Pikes Peak or Bust, they just didn't expect to be smothered in the center of a city with no room to grow.
An announcement from the Hall's Board of Directors is expected by June.
But that doesn’t change a thing for Kaylee, who will dedicate this year to a hometown rodeo and of course her Poncho and Tito and Dolly who know how loved they are.
