A wild and wooly time

At just 41 pounds, Kailin Crowley is small for her age, but the spunky 7-year-old with long blonde hair makes up for it with a “rough and tumble” spirit, says her mom.

Last year Kailin managed to ride a full-grown 120-pound freshly sheered lamb longer than anyone during the Penn Valley Rodeo’s annual mutton busting competition.

“She was one of the youngest and smallest. It was her first time ever, and she beat all the boys,” said her mother, Teresa Dietrich.

The young girl has been riding horses since she was 16 months old and taking care of other farm animals just as long. Her family doesn’t keep sheep and last year’s competition marked the first time she rode one.

“The lambs are slick sheered, so there’s nothing to hold onto. I told her just wrap your body around that lamb. She just went for it,” Dietrich said.

“They just run and try to get you off. If it’s your first time, it feels kind of wild and scary,” Kailin said of the ride similar to bull or bronc riding but on a smaller scale.

Falling off the sheep resulted in a “big raspberry” on her hip.

“It hurted,” she said.

Yet not enough to stop her from having another go.

Kailin plans to win another buckle during the mutton busting event Sunday.

She proudly wears the buckle she won last year fastened to a leather belt looped through her jeans.

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To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion. com or call 477-4231.