SLIPPERY ROCK — Lauren Carfangia didn't want to move.

She liked her home in Hubbard, Ohio, just eight miles from Youngstown and 80 miles from Cleveland.

But her family inherited a farm in Slippery Rock and the move was going to happen whether the 9-year-old wanted it to or not.

Defiant to the end, Carfangia agreed to the move on one condition.

"I told my parents I wasn't going to move unless they got me a pony," Carfangia said.

Now 13, Carfangia's pony has turned into seven horses on her family's 171-acre farm and she has turned her love for riding into a successful rodeo career.

Carfangia was named to the National High SchoolRodeo Association Wrangler Division All-Star team.

It's a high honor that's based on leadership qualities, academic eligibility and athletic achievements.

"I was pretty excited," Carfangia said. "I was surprised because I didn't even know there was a team or what I did to qualify.

"I like to ride horses and compete and win."

Carfangia competes in barrel and poles racing.

Barrel racing is an event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete a pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time.

In poles racing, the horse and rider attempt to weave between six poles arranged in a straight line and back in the fastest time.

At the Pennsylvania High School Rodeo Association championships, Carfangia finished second in the junior poles and third in the junior barrels.

Carfangia rode Peggy Sue to those finishes. Of her seven horses, she can't call any her favorite.

Simply having seven horses still boggles the mind of Roger Carfangia, Lauren's father.

When the family moved, he and his wife Julie gave in to their daughter's request for a pony, thinking she would grow out of it.

Instead, it has launched a rodeo career.

"We thought it would last six to eight months and she'd get tired of it — the classic puppy story," Roger said. "Instead we found a whole new society of people who do this. We're kind of newbies at it, but we're loving it."

Lauren's older brother, Steven, who is 15, also is involved in rodeo.

Lauren will compete with the all-star team in events in March, April and May, culminating with the NHSRA finals in Gallup, N.M.