OklahomaHorses Magazine May 2023

May / June 2023 • OklahomaHorses 25 G rowing up in the Oklahoma coun- tryside near Holdenville never was an issue for one die-hard cowgirl. The only one of four children to become an avid horseman and competitor, the young blonde stepped up every time any game was at play. If she is ever asked, this gal can honestly answer, “Yes, I was raised in a barn!” With a mother and stepdad who raised and showed Appaloosa horses, Lee Jean Stafford grew up on the back of a horse. “We would be gone nearly every weekend to a horse show. We’d be there from daylight through the very last class. We showed in everything,” she recalls. As a high school teenager in the early 1970s, Lee Jean started to ride more barrel horses. She got a few outside horses to train. Being small of stature and having more horse sense at that age helped her to excel. “I graduated from high school on a Monday and married Friday,” she laughs. Marriage to cowboy welder John Dee Stafford carried the couple into the oil field, where he worked a pipeline job. After five years, the couple started their own pipeline business and soon built a home and rodeoed every weekend. John roped, and she ran barrels. One year later, daughter Ann Dee made her debut. When Ann Dee was two, she was diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a rare but serious condition. In the United States, fewer than 1,000 cases are diagnosed per year. The disease, known to cause brain swelling and liver damage, is often fatal before age 20. Sadly, Ann Dee passed away in 1994 at age 14. Building a Career with Horses Lee Jean built a career with horses. She traded a cattle guard, a flagpole, and a couple of chickens for a little sorrel mare named Smooth Siemone. She was a daughter of Jet Smooth out of a Bunny Bid mare. In 1982, the Staffords took the title of Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association junior horse of the year. Jud Little later purchased Smooth Siemone to use as a broodmare. In 1989, Lee Jean became the first woman to win the all-around saddle and buckle at the Tahlequah Rodeo. During the week, she managed the books for the pipeline business, bought and trained colts, and kept John’s horses legged up. In 1991, she jumped into the pro league. “We purchased a motor home. My mom and mother-in-law went with us. They took care of Ann Dee while we competed until we road-foundered them,” Lee Jean laughs. During her one pro year, Lee Jean hauled with Eva Jones, who rode Dr. Mom, and Pam Newman, who rode Mazie. Up to that point, Lee Jean had racked up wins and buckles in showing, steer undecorating, ribbon running, and barrel racing. She continued barrel racing, winning her last buckle for that sport in 2009. Despite having ridden, worked, and rodeoed together, the Staffords parted ways in 1993. In 2004, while Lee Jean was working in the offices of a Holdenville sale barn, Orvil Burdine, one of the cowboys working in the back, asked her if she would like to go out on a date. She told him she had three colts that had to be ridden first. He said that would work out fine because he had some cattle to work. He showed up less than an hour later and helped her work the horses. It wasn’t long before the two found that they were a good team. Getting into Mounted Shooting In 2005, Lee Jean caught wind of cowboy mounted shooting. She ran up to the Lazy E in Guthrie to watch her first mounted shooting match. Intrigued, she spent the entire day watching. She knew that was the sport for her. The next day, her hunt for a prospective shooting horse was on. Having a good eye and a wealth of experience, she thought the training part would be easy. Not long afterward, Lee Jean partnered up with a gelding named Socks and hit the road. The team won the Oklahoma State Championship Overall Ladies competition in 2006. After Socks sustained an injury, Lee Jean sold him to her veterinarian. Because Lee Jean still had a good barrel horse in the making, she started to haul her. While she got the mare seasoned and racked up wins, mounted shooting was on hold for several years. Although it might be a short while before she found an acceptable equine partner, Lee Jean kept busy. She raised her Flying A Jack Russell Terriers and showed them in field trials. She also continued to paint, a lifelong passion. Tragedy struck Lee Jean’s life again when Burdine was diagnosed with a highly aggressive bone cancer in 2008. After his death, Lee Jean found herself on her own once again. Taking time off to travel, horse camp, and trail ride, Lee Jean got to see wilderness Above, Spud, Lee Jean Stafford’s newest horse, carries her to another win in mounted shooting. This work in progress, a representation of Spud, is Lee Jean Stafford’s first sculpture.