It's never too late to follow your dreams or work to achieve your goals, and cowgirl Lee Ann Rust is the perfect example of that mantra.

Rust was recently crowned WPRA's Rookie of the Year for 2011. Always a great accomplishment for each year's winner, but for Rust the title is perhaps a little bit more.

After all, it's not everyday you win a Rookie award at age 53.

"I accomplished a lot of goals and surpassed a lot of milestones," Rust said. "It was exciting. It was a huge learning experience and really an amazing journey."

Rust, of Stephenville, Texas, narrowly beat out Kaley Bass, of Davenport, Fla., for the Rookie title. Rust finished the year with $52,970, while Bass had $51,267. Rust said she owes a big debt of gratitude to Bass when it comes to the victory.

"She kept pushing me and kept me hustling all the way to the end," Rust said. "If it wasn't for her pushing me, I might have let up just a little bit. But, I have a driven personality anyway, so she did a super fantastic job of keeping me sharp and on my toes and she did a great job."

Rust has been riding horses for most of her life, but hitting the rodeo trail was something that wasn't ever possible in her life until now. Rust said she knew she had a good horse and other circumstances allowed her to have the freedom to travel the rodeo trail.

"In 2010 things worked out that I could move back to Stephenville around my family, but there was a lot to be done, and by the time I looked up in 2010 it was July. I'd filled my permit in 2009, and I thought to myself, 'You're rookie eligible, no sense in wasting it,' so I decided not to do anything (professional)," she said.

Instead, Rust waited until the 2011 season started and took her horse, SS Streakers R Us - or Harley as he's better known - out on the road to see what would happen.

In the beginning, Rust said she had high hopes of winning the Rookie of the Year award by making it to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and winning that as well.

"But I was ignorant, and I didn't know what all was out there," Rust said. "But still, it was my goal, and I figure if you're going to go, you might as well go for broke!

"Realistically, Rookie of the Year is a great honor and I'm honored that I was able to hang in there and get that accomplished."

Rust finished 18th in the world, just missing the Wrangler NFR. But she knows that her accomplishments this year will help open doors for next year, which could make the difference.

"Being a rookie, you have a lot of cards stacked against you," she said. "There are no 'last year's earnings' to go from, so ending 18th in the world will open up places like Houston and San Antonio and things. We'll get to run some places that we haven't seen before and it'll put us on more even footing."

Rust says she was continually amazed this year by Harley. Her horse had never formally been on the rodeo trail before, but he improved with each run. As Rust put it, he didn't survive on the road, but instead thrived.

"Not only was I a rookie this year, but he was a rookie too. He'd never been to any of those pens that we ran, so I'm excited about going back and seeing what a difference that makes," she said.

"I told somebody the other day, sticking him in the trailer is like putting a battery in a charger - the longer you leave him in there, the stouter he is when I pull him out. He never ceases to amaze me."

Harley is 9, which Rust said she's learning is still pretty young, so she's excited to see what the coming seasons bring in him. She said he's definitely found his calling, the thing he loves.

Not only has rodeoing been a learning experience as far as her horse, but Rust said she learned a ton about herself too. Earlier in the season a friend set her up with a Facebook page, and she quickly started acquiring friends there (she has more than 800 of them now). Many of them send her messages and prayer support, some of which surprise her.

"I guess I'm proof that if it doesn't work out right out of high school or college, just because you can't step right into your dream doesn't mean you can't (eventually)," she said. "People look at me and say, in her 50s she was able to go back and make that dream happen. I guess I've given young people hope for the future."

"And for those on my side of the hill," she said with a chuckle, "they're seeing it as an inspiration that it's never too late. Whatever this thing started out as, it's evolved into a spiritual journey more than anything else."