Every afternoon when she gets off the bus after the one hour and 40 minute trip home from school in Scone, Bridie Palmer will throw on her jeans and riding boots and head out to work her horses.
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Sometimes she'll be out there well past dinner time.
"It's nothing for me to have to go and pull her off a horse at nine o'clock at night so she can have a shower and go to bed for school the next day," her mum Debbie said.
"That happens quite often."
Along with a healthy dose of natural horsemanship, that dedication to her craft has seen the 15-year-old develop into one of the best young cowgirls in the country.
Fresh from being named the All Round Cowgirl for the Australian High School Rodeo Association Finals and stamping her passport to the US, the Warrah Ridge teenager was crowned the ABCRA Junior (11-under 14) Barrel Race Champion for 2023.
Unable to be caught heading into last week's Junior National Finals, it was a special win for more than being her first national title.
She also made it three generations of national champions, joining her dad, Mark Palmer (saddlebronc), and maternal grandmother, Anne Woodham (breakaway roping), on the title-winners honour roll.
"It was very nerve-racking heading into the finals but following in my family's footsteps was pretty special," Bridie said.
The only Palmer on the finals list this year, she became the fifth member of her immediate family to compete at the pinnacle event with her brother, Justin Scoggin, and mum also finalists previously.
Debbie, who won a breakaway roping title with the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, said to see Bridie's win was "pretty surreal".
Albeit not that surprising.
Her proficiency in the saddle was evident from early on.
By the time she was three she could canter on her own.
In the years since she has dabbled in everything from pony club, to show riding, campdrafting, even trick riding.
Rodeo though is her true passion.
But it wasn't really until the 2023 season that she really focused on that.
"Bridie had a really good horse (Palmer's Dynamic) and she was quite passionate and committed to rodeo," Debbie said.
"So we said 'we'll give it a year and do your best and see how you go' and she started off really strong.
"The first five rodeos she went to she won the whole five."
The ABCRA title is the latest on a long list of achievements for the Scone Grammar Year 10 student in the past 12 months that includes riding at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and being named Grand Champion at the Off The Track NSW Country Championships.
Leading into the finals, she also earned a spot on the Australian team to compete at the National High Schools Finals Rodeo at Rock Springs, Wyoming, in July.
"I can't wait," she said.
"It's even more special that I get to go over with my friends."
She got a bit of a taste of what to expect late last year, attending the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) as part of a family holiday to the US.
"It was a real adrenaline rush," she said.
It was also inspiring seeing all of her idols and the people she looks up to.
And, if all goes to plan, a glimpse into her future.
"I really thought I could be back there one day, hopefully," she said.
That is the dream.
