IFYR Profile: Best friends from Georgia

Two best friends from Georgia have traveled to Shawnee this week in hopes of winning at the International Finals Youth Rodeo.
Caleb Kennedy, 18, Rydal, Ga., and Brandie Turner, 16,  Cairo, Ga., arrived in Shawnee with their horses, Roanie and Baby Doll.
Kennedy said he started team roping at age eight and comes from a rodeo family. He also does calf roping and steer wrestling, but he is competing in the IFYR in team roping with Dwayne Rogers, Rockmart, Ga., he said.
Kennedy likes traveling to different rodeos and has been in Oklahoma before. Before a ride, he prepares himself and his thoughts for a good run.
“You don’t let anybody intimidate you and believe you’re going to do your best,” he said.
Turner, who is competing in breakaway roping, started riding horses at a young age with her dad, a team pinner. This is her first IFYR as a contestant, but she visited Shawnee when her sisters, Brittani and Brooke, competed at the IFYR in 2000-03.
“I want to do my best and meet people from all over — and have fun,” she said.
Turner will be a high school junior this fall  and hopes to one day pursue a career in physical therapy.
Kennedy will start college this fall at Abraham College in Georgia, where he plans to continue his rodeo adventures.
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Kim Morava may be reached at 214-3962 or kimberly.morava@news-star.com.