Beckville 8-year-old makes name for herself in longhorn business

Published 5:30 am Monday, August 26, 2024

BECKVILLE — Kealyn Harrell, with her devotion and care, has already made a name for herself in the Texas longhorn business — at 8 years old.

Showing at national competitions and caring for animals at home, Kealyn continues to grow confidence and love for animals. A third-grade student at Beckville Sunset Elementary, she has her own business and her own cows.

After getting flipped off of a miniature horse, Kealyn had a broken collarbone and broken confidence with livestock. A dog attack made her all the more afraid.

Her mother, Bobbi Harrell, says, “She was fearless, and then that happened. And this was all while her dad was deployed.”

When Harrell came across a Facebook ad for a white longhorn steer, she knew that would be a good way to build her daughter’s confidence back up. Although Kealyn was nervous, “I learned how to take care of him. I learned how his horns work and how to watch out for them so I wasn’t scared of him anymore. And he turned into a big lovebug,” she says.

Pointing to her black and white steer, Zuno, Kealyn says, “He is a lovey-dovey.” Harrell explained that Zuno and Bang Bang are both cows that Kealyn won as donations.

“I have to write a letter every two months as a thank you and expense report,” says Kealyn.

After a year of showing the cows and writing letters, the longhorn can be signed over to be in the showman’s name. Kealyn has a whopping nine longhorns on her show string.

Harrell brought up Kealyn’s everyday responsibilities.

“I don’t feed for her I feed with her… She does most of the work on the halter-breaking… Everything she has done she has earned. I mean, what kind of kid gets up at 5:30 every morning to feed?”

Teaching a sense of responsibility to their children has been a main goal for Justin and Bobbi Harrell. Kealyn has absorbed that mindset like a sponge.

Texas Longhorn breeder, Joey Gornick, commended Kealyn for her hard work.

“She is the most hard-working and dedicated kid at any show… She gets the job done,” Gornick said.

Along with three reserve grand champion awards, she has also won first in class six times, and two junior champion showmanship awards, she has also won fifth place at the TLBAA World Expo the past two years and received a third place gold merit award for a speech and interview.

In the junior high point, she received fifth place and has a total of 2110 points, collected through show placings, speeches and seminars.

Harrell, a proud and supportive mother, says, “We owe all of this to God. There have been several times He has shown up and shown out for us and especially for Kealyn in this journey.”

With confidence and focus, Kealyn is dedicated to her animals.

“This is all her. She is setting her own self up for success,” says Harrell, smiling at Kealyn.