A Barn Full of Bosses: Why We Want Our Kids to Lead
- afenner
- Jul 26
- 2 min read
Some folks raise quiet kids who stay out of the way in the barn. We raise bosses.
Not bossy. Not bratty. Bosses.
Kids who know how to take charge, get things done, and lead with confidence — because they’ve had to.
At Rad Rodeo, we believe the barn is one of the best places in the world to raise capable kids. The kind who don’t wait to be told. The kind who step up.
Leadership Isn’t Just for the Adults
When we hand over responsibility, we give our kids a chance to:
Think critically.
Make mistakes (and fix them).
Feel proud of what they’ve done on their own.
That means they feed. They fix pens. They halter break the colts. They saddle, work and train their own horses.
They don’t help — they Do*!*
Confidence Is Built by Doing
We don’t build confident kids with pep talks. We build them with:
Real jobs.
Real accountability.
Real freedom to try.
When a kid learns they can manage a nervous colt or troubleshoot a trailer hookup, they carry that into the rest of their life.
It shows up in school. In friendships. In the arena. And in the way they handle pressure when it matters.
Mistakes Are Part of the Plan
We expect our kids to mess up. In fact, we count on it.
Because:
Forgetting to latch a gate teaches attention to detail.
Running out of feed teaches planning.
Overworking a horse teaches feel — fast.
Our job is to create a safe space to fail and learn, not to prevent every bump in the road.
We Lead by Example
Our kids learn how to lead because they watch us lead.
They see us:
Step in where we’re needed.
Own our mistakes.
Make hard decisions with heart.
So when we ask them to show leadership, it’s not foreign — it’s familiar.
Final Thoughts
We don’t raise followers. We raise problem-solvers, thinkers, doers, and leaders.
Because the world doesn’t need more kids who wait to be told what to do — it needs more barn-bred bosses who saddle up and get it done.
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Ann-Marie Fenner
Ranch Manager, Breeder, Rodeo Mom
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