All in on the Dirt

A Q&A with Shacie Marr, assistant rodeo coach

Dust hangs in the air as the arena stills, and the crowd, a patchwork of denim and dusted shadows beneath a thousand cowboy hats, holds its breath, waiting for the horse and its rider. Shacie Marr (BS24, MBA25) leans forward in her saddle, reins taut, every nerve stilled into focus as the buzzer sounds, and she is let loose onto the dirt stage.

In rodeo, the fleeting seconds of competition rarely tell the whole story. For Marr, those seconds are defined by the clean, carving turn of a barrel pattern, the sharp snap of a breakaway catch, and the timed precision of a goat-tying dismount. Though over in a matter of heartbeats, these moments are built from long hours of training horses, driving from one small-town arena to the next, and pushing through fatigue and layers of dirt. When the gate opens, courage takes over and the rest comes down to instinct, precision, and control.

Marr's athletic career began long before she arrived at Eastern. Growing up in Tularosa, New Mexico, rodeo was the landscape of her youth. Even weekends meant another arena and another stretch of highway, hauling her barrel and breakaway horses toward the next competition. The highway's white line was the constant track of her pre-competition playlist.

"All our vacations growing up were going to rodeos. It was a full-time deal. If we weren't rodeoing, it's because we were at school."

Q: When did you start to feel that rodeo was part of your identity?

A: I've been riding horses since before I could walk, raising them too. Most of the reasons why I love rodeo comes back to the horses. Getting to see them from little babies all the way up into competition has been a big reason why I feel so connected to that part of the sport, and it was just how I grew up. My grandparents did it. My mom. My dad. Having them help me practice all the time was like our family bonding. All our vacations growing up were going to rodeos. It was a full-time deal. If we weren't rodeoing, it's because we were at school.

By the end of her junior year of high school, Marr had already drawn the attention of ENMU Rodeo Coach, Albert Flinn. What began as a phone call grew into a year-long conversation.

"I knew I wanted to do rodeo [in college], but I didn't know much about Eastern's program," she said. By the time she had reached the end of her senior year, Marr had toured Eastern, met with faculty in the Biology Program, and decided Portales was the right fit, both for academics and rodeo. Her first year began during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all of her classes online. Marr balanced coursework with the daily responsibility of caring for and training her horses. Every morning, it was just her standing in the chill air as her four horses waited patiently at the fence for their troughs to be filled. The relentless work ethic she refined in the arena became her system of accountability.

"Knowing what I know now, I realize that coming to Eastern was the right decision because I loved everything about it. It was kind of a combination of the town itself and the community. I could feel it even from just going on a tour," Marr said. "The support for the rodeo team is evident in Portales."

"Knowing what I know now, I realize that coming to Eastern was the right decision because I loved everything about it."

Q: What did those first years at Eastern teach you?

A: When you graduate high school, it's those next couple of years that are really defining because you're leaving home. You're getting away from your parents for the first time. You're actually just depending on yourself. I think that first year, I learned so much because I was living by myself and taking care of four horses by myself. Growing up in Tularosa, we all had the same friends from elementary school all the way until we graduated, and now you're in a completely different town meeting completely different people. I think it helped me to kind of come out of my shell a little bit and develop my communication skills.

In the Eastern arena, Marr entered nearly every event in rodeo, but as her college career progressed, she stepped back from team roping to hone her skills in barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying, the three events that suited her best.

Q: What has Rodeo taught you about yourself?

A: I guess this is one of the biggest things the last five years of rodeo has taught me: the mental game. I've always ridden well but being at Eastern and all the experiences here helped me to harness my mental game. It's just the realization that I've done the work. I've practiced. My horses are in shape, I'm in shape, and I've done everything I can do at this point. That's all you can do and then just trust that what you did is good enough.

Marr advanced to the College National Finals Rodeo, which she calls the "Rose Bowl of College Rodeo," twice. As a first-year student, she rode into the lights and crowds of the national arena, not fully aware of her ability. But she made it back to the same arena on the national stage in her final year at Eastern, a confident, fierce competitor.

Q: Standing in that arena for the last time as a college competitor, what did it show you about who you've become, and what still drives you forward?

A: It was kind of a full-circle moment. I've learned so much about myself, my roping style, and just every event in the last five years. The mental aspect and the physical — I'm a completely different competitor than I was.

Qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo was the culmination of her collegiate career; a testament to the persistence and precision forged in those quiet COVID mornings and strengthened through every season after. That final run marked the close of her career as a student-athlete and the beginning of a new chapter in and out of the arena. Marr now competes in the Turquoise Pro Rodeo Circuit. Every run she has is an honest negotiation between grit and the unyielding clock. She remains rooted in the Southwest's tight-knit rodeo community as she chases a doctorate in chiropractic, aiming to one day serve both riders and animals.

Marr's time as a student-athlete at ENMU may be over, but the confidence and purpose she built here remains her foundation. Between rodeos and doctoral studies, Marr finds herself back in Portales. She returned to ENMU as the assistant rodeo coach. "Eastern helped me realize that it's not just about my own success," she said. "It's about helping the people around me and being part of something bigger."

She rides forward, driven by the same resolve that first pulled her into the Eastern arena, where the dust settles slow, and the gates never stay closed for long.