A teen rodeo champion, Brady Schaad seeks horse training career

CUMBERLAND — It didn't take long for Brady Schaad to know he wanted to train horses for a living.

Brady, a senior at John Glenn High School, grew up around them. A third generation roper, he watched his dad train the horses he's worked with to reach multiple championship titles throughout high school.

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But it was a few years ago, after he trained his first horse P.J., he really knew it was something he wanted to do that forever.

"I think I've always known, but when I got P.J., that's when I knew this is what I want to do for a living," he said. "It really clicked for me."

While he hasn't yet graduated Mid-East Career and Technology Center's large animal science and agriculture program, he's eager to take the reins as a professional trainer.

"Watching (the horses) progress, and how you can work with them is my biggest thing," Brady said.

A family affair

Brady's grandfather got Brady's dad, Aaron, into roping. Now it's been passed down to Brady.

Aaron, who has trained Brady's show horses, also competes in amateur classes. 

"I can 100% say I know I wouldn't be where I'm at without (my dad)," Brady said.

Brady traveled to Oklahoma City in July to compete in the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Show, where he took the title as champion in the Level 2 tie-down competition.

He also competed in the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus earlier this month. He placed twice in the youth calf-roping competition, taking first place in the tie-down event.

It all started with Brady's first horse Peanut, still his favorite to this day. He's not a show horse anymore, but he holds a special place in Brady's heart, having saved him from hard fall when he was about 4 years old.

It was a few years after that he started roping, and it went from there.

Riding in his backyard turned into learning skills, which turned into competing in youth rodeos. By the time he was 14 or 15, he was showing horses competitively.

He started competing in the All American Quarter Horse Congress in 2018. He took the champion heeling title during that competition, then tie-down and breakaway the following year.

Making it a job

This year, he's' putting his skills training and caring for animals to the test at Mid-East's new large animal and agriculture training program.

"The horse training is going really good," Aaron said of his son's progress. "He picks up really quick."

He's learning about how to run a farm and how to care for animals at Mid-East. He's hoping to get horses onto the family's Cumberland farm as soon as he receives his credentials.

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His mom said the wheels are already in motion.

People started reaching out to them on Facebook messenger to help them train. He's teaching kids how to ride and rope the calf dummies as well.

And the doors keep opening.

"I was wondering when they'd start to open," he said with a laugh, "but I didn't know it'd be this soon."

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