Get to Know UW’s Emme Norsworthy: One Last CNFR

Jeff Bugher
Jun 16
3 min read

Emme Norsworthy. Photo by Emily Gerlach, Emily Gerlach Photography

CASPER, Wyo. - For University of Wyoming barrel racer Emme Norsworthy, the College National Finals Rodeo is just a part of the journey that began on her family’s ranch in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

“I grew up on my family ranch and have always been on a horse my entire life,” Norsworthy said. “I didn't get into rodeo until a little bit later. I kind of dipped my toe in it, but it didn't really become very serious until probably my eighth-grade year.”

That’s when Norsworthy began focusing on barrel racing and pole bending. Breakaway roping followed during her sophomore year of high school. But her biggest leap came through an unexpected avenue.

“Honestly, for me it was riding cutting horses,” she explained. “My mom and some of her family friends got me into cutting. Being able to be on those horses and learn from them was really something special. The amount of horsemanship skills you learn is just insane.”

Yet, success didn’t come immediately.

“I didn’t win at all throughout high school,” she said candidly. “But an old coach of mine, Beau Clark, really believed in me during my first two years of college. He pushed me, and it was a hard change for me to have somebody push me to that level. But he was really the most inspiring person.”

That push helped send Norsworthy to the CNFR in 2023, where she finished an impressive fifth overall in the nation.

“One of my performances, it had flooded that day - like hurricane rain - and there were cars underwater,” she recalled. “It was survival mode for sure. My horse was decently young when I went there, but we made it through.”

Shes back in Casper for the final time this week, but her 2025 CNFR campaign has already faced a major hurdle. Her main horse, Playgirl, was injured in her horse stall early Saturday morning in Casper.

“I had a pretty traumatic [Saturday] morning. That was really unexpected,” she said. “My main horse got hurt, so I will not be able to run her.”

Instead, she’ll ride Georgia—another talented horse in her trailer full of four, brought along to keep each other calm and focused during the week.

“Yeah, I like to buy them young and be able to do it my way and put my own buttons on them,” she said. “Georgia’s the one horse I have right now that I did not train. I bought her at the end of her four-year-old year.”

Despite the setback, Norsworthy remains locked in.

“All I can do is focus on what I do have going for me,” she said. “That’s a young horse that’s extremely talented. I’m going to do everything I can in my control to have the best runs I can and just take it one run at a time.”

Norsworthy graduated in May with her degree in general studies, and she has big plans beyond the CNFR.

“I’m just going to hit the Pro Rodeo circuit after this week, primarily, and that’s going to pretty much consume the rest of my summer,” she said.

She also recently got engaged, but she jokes that planning a wedding will have to wait. “Not at the moment,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been slammed. Maybe in the winter months when I’m bored and can’t do as much, I’ll plan something.”

Her passion? Horses.

“I don’t think you can ever learn enough of horsemanship,” she said. “Ever since I was little, I always went to clinics. I went to Lisa Lockhart clinics and a Shorty James clinic when I first started. I went to Bill Smith clinics and worked for him a little bit after school.”

Beyond pro rodeo, and a wedding, Norsworthy hopes to one day pass her horse knowledge on to others.

“I would like to do some clinics eventually,” she said. “And I’d like to train horses on a more regular basis and take outside clients in. I will be starting that this fall, I hope.”

Just like other contestants we’ve interviewed, Norsworthy will have lots of fans in the stands, including family friends driving up from Kansas.

Does Norsworthy have any other hobbies outside of horses? “Horses are my whole life,” she said. “Besides my dogs, yeah, pretty much everything I do is tied to them.”

She wouldn’t have it any other way.