This women’s event is swift, exciting and is one of the crowd favorites. Barrel racing began as a friendly challenge of horsemanship skills between cowgirls and has developed into a multi-million dollar professional sport. The thrill of barrel racing is in the keen skills of the rider and their equine athletes.
Horse and rider cross the start line at a run, follow a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels, then dash across the finish line. What is not seen are the years of practice required to train that horse to run barrels.
A good barrel horse must not only be fast but very agile to avoid tipping over a barrel which is a five-second penalty. Horses that excel at this event are a precious commodity and command sale prices in excess of $50,000. The women in this event have perfected the pattern so precisely where winning and losing can come down to a hundredth of a second.
This women’s event is swift, exciting and is one of the crowd favorites. Barrel racing began as a friendly challenge of horsemanship skills between cowgirls and has developed into a multi-million dollar professional sport. The thrill of barrel racing is in the keen skills of the rider and their equine athletes.