When Life Isn’t All Gold Buckles, Hope Counts
By Madison Richmann
Just ask anyone who rodeos, and they will tell you, it is much more than a weekend getaway or a sport. It is a big family built on a shared lifestyle. That lifestyle, deeply rooted, family driven, and yes, sometimes a little risky too.
When someone in this tight-knit rodeo family is hurting, the response is always the same. Without any hesitation, others gather to help. Prayers rise from rodeo families across the country. It’s quiet, unwavering support—the kind that doesn’t ask questions, it just acts. A kind of love that only exists in communities like the rodeo world. It is this support that brings a sense of hope in someone's toughest moments in life.
This is exactly the calling that inspired a 12-year-old Utah girl in 2013. Sydnee Christensen saw fellow rodeo families struggling, and she felt called to help. What started as a simple idea to raise money, has since grown into a foundation that steps up for rodeo families in life’s hardest moments.
A few years ago the Christensen Family partnered with Little Britches. Hope Counts is now the official crisis fund of the National Little Britches Rodeo Association (NLBRA).
Sydnee’s mom, Casey Christensen explains this partnership by saying, “A few years ago, we partnered with NLBRA to put Hope Counts in a place where, once our kids aged out of youth rodeo—especially our oldest daughter who started it—it would stay home with them, to carry it on,” Casey said. “For a number of years we raised funds, put on franchise rodeos, and sold necklaces, hats, feathers. As far as the day to day goes, NLBRA has now taken over. A dollar from every single rodeo entry in every franchise across the entry now goes into the fund.”
The effort gained much attention when Amberly Snyder ran at the American Rodeo in 2015. Thanks to a generous offer from Busby Quarter Horses, Amberley then had the opportunity to direct a $50,000 donation to the charity of her choice. She chose Hope Counts.
As Sydnee grew older and pursued new chapters in her life, including an 18-month service mission with her church, NLBRA stepped in to take over the day-to-day management of Hope Counts. Although Little Britches is now the home of Hope Counts, the Christensen Family has stayed involved and keeps the organization close to their heart, where it all began.
Casey explained, “One of the things that was really important to us as a family, and why we chose Little Britches, was the solid foundation they have—and the wide range of kids they reach,” Casey said. “They serve so many kids of all ages and walks of life. We’re just really
Thankful to have that program reside there. Thankful to the board and those who saw a need to adopt it and let it live there for good now.”
When life bucks harder than any bronc, and the weight is just too heavy, Hope Counts. There are the moments that hit hard - lives gone too soon, diagnoses we can’t begin to understand, injuries that alter the course of everything that came before. In these moments when questions outweigh answers, Hope Counts. It is not just a fund, but a lifeline, because in this lifestyle no one rides alone, no matter how tough it gets.
That’s what Hope Counts is built on — the belief that even in the hardest seasons, there is something we can give: a hand to hold, a burden lifted, reminder that hope, no matter how small, still matters. At the end of a long day of rodeo, when the lights dim, the arena dirt settles, and the gates are shut, it’s not the times, the scores, or the buckles that mean the most — it’s the people around us who remind us that even in the hardest times, Hope Counts.
Hope Counts is still going strong today, continuing to support rodeo families from across the country. Each summer at the National Little Britches Finals, a special Hope Counts night honors the mission and the families it serves.
To support rodeo families in need through Hope Counts, visit the official National Little Britches Rodeo Association website (nlbra.com).