- November 14, 2024
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Seabreeze rising junior Casey Jensen Gainey leads her horse Pie to the arena for some barrel practice at Pellicer Community Park. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze rising junior Casey Jensen Gainey runs barrels with her horse Pie at the Pellicer Community Park arena. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze cheerleader Casey Jensen Gainey. Photo by Michele Meyers
FFA officers Lani Selman (left) and Casey Jensen Gainey (right) at the Seabreeze FFA chapter welcome back dinner. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze rising junior Casey Jensen Gainey rides her Palomino Pie. She is practicing for the NBHA Youth and Teen World Championships. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze rising junior Casey Jensen Gainey rides her Palomino Pie. She is practicing for the NBHA Youth and Teen World Championships. Photo by Michele Meyers
FFA officers Lani Selman (left) and Casey Jensen Gainey (right) dish out food to the people in line at the Seabreeze FFA chapter welcome back dinner. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze FFA chapter officers. Photo by Michele Meyers
Rider Casey Jensen Gainey passes her phone to her mom Beth Jensen so she can take videos of her barrel runs on her horse Pie at Pellicer Community Park. Photo by Michele Meyers
Sixteen-year-old Casey Jensen Gainey is an “all-American girl.”
She is a Seabreeze cheerleader, the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter treasurer, she competes in rodeos and qualified for the 2024 National Barrel Horse Association Youth & Teen World Championships in July, entered the Miss Volusia County Fair Pageant this year and works two jobs — at Ormond Hay and Feed and the Boot Barn in Daytona Beach.
Ordinarily an honor roll student, she recently finished her first semester as a junior with straight As.
“She’s definitely an all-American girl — cheerleader, rodeos, FFA officer,” Casey’s mother Beth Jensen said. “You can’t get more American than that. She also works at the local feed store loading hay and 50-pound bags of feed all day. She knows all the customers and the customers know her.”
Casey said her work ethic comes from the way both her parents raised her. Even her brother Noah Jensen worked two, and sometimes three jobs, while he played baseball at Seabreeze and on a competitive travel team.
“I love working and staying busy,” she said. “I can’t stand being bored. I have to have something to do. I never want down time, even though I think sometimes I need it.”
Beth is a child protective investigator at the Department of Children and Families, bartends at the Iron Horse Saloon during bike events and has multiple side gigs. She said she and her daughter live out of a planner. Meshing the two of their schedules makes things easier for both of them, considering Beth hauls the horse trailer for her daughter and is involved in most aspects of her routine.
No matter how busy they are, Beth said she would not change a thing as far as encouraging her children to get involved in multiple interests and supporting them throughout their efforts.
“They’re only kids for 18 years,” she said. “I want to enjoy everything. I don’t want to look back and say ‘I should have worked more’ or ‘I wish I didn’t miss this.’ I do every single thing I can. When they have kids, I want them to do the same thing.”
Casey was born and raised in Ormond Beach, like her father Jason Gainey. His parents, Darlene and Phil Gainey, also live in Ormond Beach, where they have horses. Darlene barrel raced when she was younger and was a big influence on Casey’s love for the sport.
Casey rode on the back of a horse before she could walk. At 4 years old, her grandmother gave her a Quarter Paint horse named Lacy. They bonded immediately and Darlene jumped at the opportunity to teach Casey how to barrel race. Her grandmother used a lead line to take them through the barrels at rodeos but when Casey turned 5, she got tired of being led around the arena and went solo.
Racing got serious for her at the age of nine when she and Lacy ran their first 15-second race and won Flagler County Cracker Day. In 2019, she qualified for the NBHA Youth & Teen World Championships. Casey and Lacy competed for nine years together by the time Lacy was retired at the age of 26 years old.
Casey really excels in the horses and the farm life but then she loves to be girly. She's not afraid to get dirty on the farm then put on red lipstick for the games." — AMIE MACDONALD, Seabreeze head cheerleading coach
Pie was the next horse she got for rodeo events. The Palomino was a fast barrel horse, but did not like the other rodeo events which became dangerous. Beth mentioned her concerns to her father Joe Jensen. In January, he bought Casey a rodeo horse named Ellie Cat. Beth said it was her father’s dream to buy his granddaughter a horse.
Casey qualified to go to the NBHA Youth & Teen World Championships this year with both horses.
“Worlds went OK,” she said. “I didn’t have the runs I was hoping for but not having been there for five years, I think I did very well. I had a couple good runs I am really proud of. I’m planning on going back with both my horses next year.”
Preparation for rigorous rodeo competitions includes chiropractic treatment for Casey and her horses. Her ultimate goal is to attend Murray State University in Kentucky on a rodeo scholarship where she can earn a bachelor’s degree in agriculture in animal science/pre-veterinary medicine, then become an equine chiropractor.
She attributes a lot of her knowledge of horses and agriculture to her enrollment in the Agricultural Technology Academy at Seabreeze and her involvement as an FFA officer since she was a freshman. She has attended the FFA National Convention three years in a row. Last year, she discovered MSU and the fact that they had a rodeo team.
“FFA has made me who I am and taught me in so many ways,” she said. “Everything I have learned through it has made me such a better person all around.”
Seabreeze agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Craig Lungren met Casey when he first started the program three years ago. He said he knew she had an incredible future ahead of her.
“She had a natural talent of lighting up a room with her personality and excited smile,” he said. “Casey is one of the hardest working FFA members I have within my program. She has always put 110% into everything she has done.”
Lungren said she always strives to develop her leadership skills and increase her ability to help others achieve goals they set for themselves. He said he is looking forward to seeing everything she accomplishes in her future endeavors.
As a kid, Casey attended Pathways Elementary, where they had started a cheerleading program through the Extended Day Enrichment Program. She saw the cheerleaders and told her mom she wanted to do “that.”
They did not have a uniform small enough for her, so after resizing it to fit her pint-size frame, she joined the team. She has been a cheerleader ever since and is currently on the Seabreeze cheerleading team.
Seabreeze cheerleading coach Amie MacDonald said she marvels at Casey’s ability to keep everything organized.
“The organizational skills are there — she plans things ahead of time, she always knows what she needs, she always has her stuff together,” she said. “I think she literally wakes up with drive. She has goals and drive to get to them.”
Casey is on the varsity sideline team and the game day competitive team. MacDonald said she is by far the loudest voice at the varsity football games.
“Casey really excels in the horses and the farm life but then she loves to be girly,” she said. “She’s not afraid to get dirty on the farm then put on red lipstick for the games.”
Casey said she could not successfully run her schedule without her mom.
“My mom has done everything for me,” Casey said. “She helps get me to all of my rodeos across the state of Florida and Georgia. She really does it all for me. She keeps track of my schedule so I just show up. It makes it a lot easier.”
