Codi & Jasper

They Made it to the Top of The World

Written by Cyd Hoefle
Photography by Stu Hoefle and Kayla Walker

Though she’s no longer living at home, older sister Codi is still fully involved with all the animals, including her goat herd, which numbers in the dozens. She lives in nearby Lewistown but manages to drop by almost daily take care of the goats and work her horses. She owns several paints, Jasper, Chet and Lola, and has shown and ridden all three. But it’s with Jasper that she has gone the furthest. 

I worked Jasper all the time. He was a knot head for the first four years of his life. I can’t count the number of times I’d go into the house and tell Mom that he needs to go down the road. But something clicked when he hit 4. He became a brand-new horse.

- Codi

When Codi talks about Jasper, there’s pride in her voice. He’s been a huge part of her life. Codi purchased him as a weanling, and over the years she trained him and has shown him in competitions across the state and nation. If ever there was a story of a girl and her horse, it’s Codi and Jasper.

Along with her younger sisters Bailey and Allie, Codi was raised with three older brothers. 4-H was a natural. But even before she enrolled in the club at age 8, she was showing horses.

“I actually started showing at 3,” she said. “It was a lead line class. I guess it was pretty cute.”

Twenty years later, Codi is still training, showing and living her life around horses. Over the years, she’s had a couple of different paints and a few Quarter Horses.

“I showed horses in 4-H,” Codi explained. “But at the same time, I started doing open shows around the area. My mom was a jockey so the interest in horses came naturally to me.”

With a career as a jockey, and a love of horses herself, Penny and her husband, John, gave Codi and her sisters every advantage they could when it came to learning how to show, ride, train and handle horses.

“We attended a lot of clinics and met with trainers over the years,” Codi said. “It really helped form my interests. Of course, 4-H helped give me a place to learn, advance and grow, too.” 

With wins piling up across the region, Codi set her sights on attending the World Show with her Quarter Horses. She first attended in 2011, as a 12-year-old, where she made it to the semifinals before a misstep kicked her out. 

It was at the Pinto World Show that she shined, and every year as a 16-, 17- and 18-year-old, Codi and her horses, Jasper and Chet, consistently placed in the top five to 10 spots in every competition they entered. In addition to the World Show, they won over and over in shows across the country, accumulating hundreds of trophies and belt buckets and making a name for herself. 

In 2014, she and Jasper took the World Title. She was 17 and was competing against hundreds of the top youth contestants in the world. What made her stand out, she believes, is her relationship with her horse.

“I worked Jasper all the time. He was a knot head for the first four years of his life,” she laughed. “I can’t count the number of times I’d go into the house and tell Mom that he needs to go down the road. But something clicked when he hit 4. He became a brand-new horse.”

Codi kept returning to the World Show and added two Reserve Champion titles to her resume. As she climbed the ranks she went from youth to amateur, continuing to compete in the program.

“I’ve kept at it because I enjoy going down there and competing with a horse that I trained myself.”

In the horse showing circuit, shows such as the World are often attended by people who have purchased their horse and paid a trainer to get them to the highest competitions. 

“It’s an expensive hobby for lots of people,” Codi said. “If they don’t do well, they look for another horse, or another trainer, without realizing that the problem is that they don’t spend enough time with their horse in the first place.”

When Codi was 18, she was showing Jasper at the state 4-H show when a woman approached her about buying him for her daughter.

“ ‘I’d like to buy your horse,’ she said to me,” Codi recalled. “She followed me around for days asking over and over. ‘I’ll pay for your college education,’ she said.”

At first Codi didn’t take her seriously, but when she realized she was and that she was offering six figures for her horse, Codi stood her ground.

I’ve kept at it because I enjoy going down there and competing with a horse that I trained myself.

- Codi

“When you put that much effort and work into something, you can’t put a price on it,” she said. “You get attached to them. Jasper is going to grow old with me. He’s too much a part of my life to part with him.”

Codi took a break from the World Show during her years at Rocky Mountain College, where she was on the collegiate team for all four years. She placed in the top 10 every year for Rocky and won at the National Collegiate her junior year.

She plans to return to the World Show in Tulsa with Jasper this year, perhaps for the last time as an amateur. She hopes to go professional with her horse showing within the next several years, which will open up opportunities to allow her to train others’ horses and judge in shows. All while continuing her nursing education through Providence University. 

And of course, grow old with her beloved horse, Jasper.