Building Champions: Stacey Martin’s Mission to Elevate Goat Tying
Written and Photographed by Dee Yates
With early morning coffee in hand at the Cal Poly arena, Stacey Martin moves with purpose around the practice pen with her lady goat-tiers. The women’s rodeo coach at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, and owner of Next Level Goat Tying has traveled across the country to share her expertise with collegiate athletes eager to perfect their craft. It’s her third year working with the Cal Poly team, and her passion for the sport remains as fierce as ever.
“What’s kept goat tying moving forward is that these girls want to win against you on your very best day. One of the things that I try to teach them is that person’s not your competition — you’re your competition.”
From Competitor to Coach
Martin’s journey began like many of her students — with determination and limited resources. After tearing her ACL during her senior year of high school in 1996, she spent her recovery studying VHS tapes of championship runs, analyzing techniques, and practicing under a tree with a goat. Without the advantages of today’s technology and social media, she pieced together her own training methods through trial and error.
“I had to figure it out on my own,” Martin recalls. “I took a old tape of the CNFR, would watch the three or four runs they put out there, and think, ‘I like that.’ Then I’d go out and try to figure it out.”
This analytical approach served her well. Despite competing on a $2,500 horse while bumming rides to college rodeos and paying her own horse rent, Martin found success. She qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in breakaway roping, though she admits with a laugh, “Not my event. Don’t like it.”
The Science of Speed
With her background teaching chemistry and physics for 20 years, Martin brings a scientific mindset to goat tying. She approaches training with the precision of a lab experiment — testing techniques, studying biomechanics, and finding ways to shave precious tenths of seconds off times.
“I’m very experimental,” she explains. “Tons of just studying how do we take every extra tenth of a second off.”
Her methods have revolutionized the sport. What was once considered impossible is now happening regularly. “I never imagined that we would see fives in this event, and now we see them more and more often.”
The Value of Education
For Martin, education is paramount — both in the arena and the classroom. She emphasizes that goat tying offers a unique opportunity for young women to earn college scholarships.
“My main goal is advancing the sport and making sure these girls use the opportunity they have through goat tying to get their education,” she states firmly. “I taught chemistry and physics for 20 years in high school, so I am a huge proponent of young girls getting their education and using their goat tying to do it.”
“Goat tyers are a very hot commodity. There are hundreds of breakaway ropers, thousands, and every one of them can run out there and rope one in two flat. But goat tyers? There’s just a very elite few in the country that can run down and tie in the low consistent low sixes and fives.”
This scarcity makes them valuable to college rodeo programs, especially considering the reliability factor.
“When it comes to the most important thing, which is getting your education paid for, that’s where we have the advantage. That’s where the coaches are looking, and that’s where they’ll write the check.”
“If her horse gets hurt, which has happened, she can get on another horse and go out there and still be a six-second goat tier. It doesn’t necessarily work that way for the breakaway ropers. It definitely doesn’t work that way for the barrel racers.”
Her proudest moments come not from championships, but from seeing her students graduate debt-free. *”I have girls that are chemical engineers, doctors, attorneys, teachers… that have paid zero dollars for their educations from goat tying.* And that’s where we win, right? Because that’s $100,000 right there.”
Next Level Coaching
Through Next Level Goat Tying, Martin conducts approximately 30 clinics annually across the country, from Hawaii to South Florida. She also offers an online coaching program where athletes can submit videos for analysis, making her expertise accessible regardless of location.
“The shortcut is education. You can get out there and try to figure it out on your own, but you’re really gonna struggle. There are so many options now to learn, so you have clinics. We have an online coaching program where it doesn’t matter where you live — anywhere in the country, you could be part of this online coaching program.”
Her teaching philosophy focuses on understanding rather than repetition. “I want you to learn. I want you to understand,” she emphasizes. “We’re gonna break it down. I’m gonna explain everything to you.”
Martin structures her clinics to break down each component — footwork, flank, tie, dismount — into drills that athletes can practice independently. With groups limited to 16 participants divided into smaller cohorts of four, she ensures personalized attention.
The former science teacher approaches goat tying as physics in motion. “If I can teach somebody chemistry and physics, I can teach them to tie goats,” she says with confidence.
Rising to New Heights
After years of advocating for greater opportunities in goat tying, Martin’s persistence is paying off. *Working with Linsay Rosser-Sumpter, the commissioner for the Women’s Rodeo Championship, she helped create a goat tying showcase that will feature the top 20 collegiate goat tyers competing in Fort Worth.*
“My goal is to have $10,000 in added money for those girls,” Martin shares. “We’ll bring the goats, and I’ll be taking the stock charge for the goats at the women’s finals. I just want the girls to have an even set of goats that lets them showcase their abilities.”
The WRC Showcase is set to be the biggest event for open goat tyers ever seen. With $10,000 added money, a Smarty horse, saddle, and other awards, plus featured coverage on the Cowboy Channel, the WRC has given these women an unprecedented opportunity to showcase their talent and hard work to a national audience.
“I can’t thank Linsay Rosser-Sumpter enough for fighting for the goat tyers to have a spot at this event,” Martin emphasizes. The showcase represents a significant breakthrough for an event that has historically received less attention and prize money than barrel racing or breakaway roping.
The Hurricane That Changed Everything
Martin’s path took an unexpected turn in 2020 when Hurricane ‘Laura’ devastated her home in Lake Charles, Louisiana. “We lost our home, barn, everything,” she recounts. “We lived in a motor home for one year. It was me, my husband, a 12-year-old boy, and I had a one-year-old.” Already having survived Hurricane ‘Katrina’ years earlier, this was the breaking point.
“I told my husband, ‘I’m not doing this anymore. I’m tired of evacuating.'”
The family relocated to Center, Texas, on property inherited from her husband’s grandmother. This transition led Martin to step away from classroom teaching and call Jeff Collins, the head coach at Panola College, about potential coaching opportunities.
“He didn’t have an assistant position, but he’s like, ‘I’m about to make one,'” she explains. Collins created the women’s rodeo coach position for Martin, allowing her to focus on developing female athletes at the collegiate level.
The Future of Goat Tying
Despite the challenges, Martin remains optimistic about the future of goat tying. She’s committed to expanding opportunities and recognition for the event, including her own program specifically designed by and for goat tyers.
“These girls work too hard to not have more opportunities. It’s not an event that you need a lot of money for. Calves are so expensive, and roping horses have gotten exceptionally expensive. Barrel horses, forget it. But with goat tying, we can spend less than 10,000 on a horse and goats are 150 bucks a piece. You can get out there and work and grind and make it happen even if you don’t have financial means to be competitive in the other sports.”
At 46, Martin continues to push boundaries and challenge conventions. Whether she’s advocating in board meetings or coaching at the arena, her message remains consistent: work ethic and education create opportunities.
As she watches her students graduate, compete, and succeed, Martin sees her life’s purpose fulfilled. “The best thing is that picture when they’ve got that diploma,” she says. “They bought themselves their independence with their hard work. That’s just sweat equity. That’s it.”
In a sport that demands equal parts athleticism, strategy, and grit, Stacey Martin stands as a testament to perseverance. Her journey from competitor to coach to advocate has shaped not just her life, but the future of goat tying and the hundreds of young women who have found their path through her guidance.
For more information about Next Level Goat Tying clinics or the online coaching program, visit nextlevelgoattying.net.
