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Barrel Racing

Fast, furious, and female.

Barrel racing in the US has been around for many years but after starting life as something of a rodeo sideshow, it is now emerging to be recognized as a popular sport in its own right. These days, the presence of a barrel racing world championship underlines just how much this discipline has grown to explode beyond the confines of the US Rodeo and into the horse riding mainstream.

Barrel racing originated at the rodeo and in its early days, the intention was to offer a safer event that cowgirls could take part in. However, as its popularity grew, male riders joined in and nowadays it is open to everyone. At present, it remains something of a niche event but word is spreading and it is therefore hoped that the number of riders across the US and beyond continues to grow.

Barrel racing is a discipline that tests many aspects of a rider`s skill and for the most part, speed and agility are tested to the absolute limit. The rider is required to manoeuvre their horse around a course that is marked out with barrels in a clover leaf pattern. They are racing against the clock and for every barrel they knock down they receive a time penalty before the rider with the fastest overall time is declared the winner at the end of the event.

Overall, it is a very quick competition and the speed and skill of the riders is impressive and that`s one of the reasons why the sport is growing in popularity.

Several factors will determine the final outcome and course conditions play a major part in any results. The amount of sand and grit in any surface can affect a rider`s time. Overall, you can expect a rider to complete a course in around thirteen seconds without time penalties so you can see it`s a very fast discipline indeed.

From those early beginnings as a curiosity at a US Rodeo, barrel racing is now big business with some serious prize money up for grabs at the top events. Finding a horse is a tricky task too as it takes a special type of animal that can compete at the highest level and some of the top barrel racing horses can fetch prices around the $50,000 dollar mark.

Evidence of the rise in popularity of barrel racing can be found at a whole host of tournaments across the US and in Missouri in September 2011, no fewer than 106 competitors turned up for a provincial event known as the Heartland Barrel Racing Extravaganza.

This was a good size field for an event held as part of a State Fair and further indication of the popularity of barrel racing came with a large field in an event in the `Pee Wee division`. This was for riders aged six and under and competitors as young as three years of age took part.

If you are thinking about taking up barrel racing there are many horse riding schools across the USA that are teaching this as a separate discipline.

With a world barrel racing championship now in place this is a real growth period for the sport and if you want to get involved, the best idea is to get some tuition from an approved horse riding school. You can also attend one of the many barrel racing events across the country and maybe speak to some of the riders who will be happy to offer advice and horse racing tips to anyone with an interest in the sport.