GULF SHORES, Ala. — From Swedish stable girl to rodeo queen, Mikki Bjuro-Thrasher has had more than one life’s experience.

Born in a small fishing community in Sweden, Bjuro-Thrasher can recall spending time playing in close-by stables.

“I spent a lot of time around horses, being a barn girl, but I never rode,” she said. “I didn’t have a pleasure horse but I had a lot of time around the barn playing in the hay.”

She said that she never would believe that years later she would be riding horses and winning rodeos.

Before her current western days, Bjuro-Thrasher took a big step in high school and moved to the United States by way of Pennsylvania.

Making the move in 1982 to combine academics and athletics, she applied for a golf scholarship at the University of Alabama.

While there she spent summers returning home to play for the national golf team in Sweden.

She golfed for 10 years, touring throughout Europe competing.

Bjuro-Thrasher came back to the states in 1994 and spent 10 years in Tuscaloosa.

From there she journeyed to the Gulf Coast just two weeks before Hurricane Ivan to work as a golf pro at Kiva Dunes, where she still gives lessons.

Her interest in riding came from her husband, Larry, who works with western cutting horses and owns the Magnolia Springs Equine Center.

Bjuro-Thrasher explained that cutting is the practice of separating one cow from a herd.

“The goal of the whole thing is to show off your horse,” she said. “And it looks like such a pretty dance, like a waltz at 90 miles an hour.”

In her first appearance at a rodeo — the Foley Rodeo — Bjuro-Thrasher not only made her mark but won the title of rodeo queen.

“When they said my name, my heart just sank. It was just such a moment,” she said.

Competing in the 19 and up age group, she finished with ease alongside her daughter, 9-year-old Emelia, who claimed the title of rodeo princess.

“She walked in there and just nailed it,” Bjuro-Thrasher exclaimed proudly. “She was just perfect.”

At the top of her list of accomplishments is mother. With her 12-year-old son Ian ,and Emelia, she has plenty of time to exercise her love of being a mother.

That love is obvious in the encouraging note posted on the wall to Ian for his football game and walls of photos of the kids.

With all the life that Bjuro-Thrasher has already lived she has developed a mantra to live by: “Life is too short, enjoy what you are doing and pursue your potential.”