This is written by Leah’s trainer, Carey…
Our Story
3 years ago, I was asked by her Mom to come to their farm and give her lessons. They had tried several trainers and Leah would not work with them.I told her I would try. When we first started, Leah was riding English. She had an Arab-cross pony that she would pop over some jumps with. After the second lesson, Leah’s mom said ‘I think she likes you’. After that second lesson she went to
J Bar W Ranch for the rodeo. The next day, her mom text me and said, ‘Well, Leah wants to barrel race’. As most of you know, THIS is my wheelhouse. I was ecstatic! The next time I went to their farm, Leah told me all about the rodeo. About how she wants to run at J Bar W Ranch. How she wants to win there and be able to run a victory lap like that girl did that night. From then on, it was all she focused on. She wanted to barrel race, she wanted to join the rodeo world, and she wanted to win at her local rodeo J Bar W Ranch…
First Issue
Leah’s little Arab-cross pony was not going to work. Then the family told me they had a barrel/pole horse sitting in the field, Hank. The old owner sold him because he was extremely gate sour. So we decided to pull him out of the field and try him. Broke, broke horse. Hank knew the patterns beautifully. Leah was able to learn barrels at home on a horse that knew his job. She had never gone quite that fast in an arena so she had some learning to do, but it was perfect. UNTIL….. we took Hank to a show. First show was ok, he paused at the gate but was able to be led in. She did well and ran really nice patterns. Then the next few shows. It became evident why Hank was sold, obviously. He was progressively getting worse and worse at the gate. Leah was a champ. We did our best to work thru it but she was squished into gates and a fence a few times. We knew it was not fair to Leah or Hank that this continue. We had to find Leah a horse. She finished out 2021 show season on Hank as her parents and I started looking for a horse for her.
Her parents and I talked about it. I suggested for them to find a horse that was 3-7yo and never trained on barrels. I told them it would be better if Leah could train the horse herself. We looked at so many ads! Finally in Spring of 2022, her mom sent me an ad for a little red horse in Georgia. It was a short video of a girl riding and she looked scared to death. There was a second video of the little horse running across the field. He was 3yo, around 15h and green. I messaged the mom back ‘I really like him’. After talking with the seller of the little red horse they found out she was looking for a broke trail horse. Leah’s family had a paint horse in the field that was a great trail horse! Leah’s mom offered to trade the woman the broke trail horse for the 3yo, she agreed. A friend was heading to Georgia so she was able to do the transport of the 2 horses.
The Little Red Horse
This little red horse made it back to Maryland the last weekend of May 2022. I went up to check him out. Oooof, he was rough. Long curly hair (it was end of May), swollen legs, and definitely on the thin side. Also, he had a huge jaw on him similar to a stud. His paperwork said gelding so we figured he was gelded late. Well, at least they traded for him, right! Leah named him Wrangler.
They called the vet out. They talked about his diet and deworming him. That did seem to help. Then there was another issue. He started mounting the other geldings in his field and acting studdy. Sigh…. Another vet call and blood drawn. Guess what?! Yup, a stallion. (This is where you think, that’s what you get for getting a horse 1200 miles away, sight unseen). Next step is surgery…
The family’s vet was unable to perform that type of surgery. Many calls later and they found a vet in PA that was able to do it and get him in. In July of 2022, Wrangler was officially a gelding. With this extensive surgery came 3 weeks of stall rest, then short confined turn-out. He was not cleared to go back to riding until about September.
Training
Now, we could get to work. The funny thing is about this little red horse is when Leah first really started riding him he worked like he was trained in western pleasure. Low head set, slow job, slow lope. HE-WOULD-NOT-RUN!! Sigh…. Now Leah is thinking, this is not going to be a barrel horse. And here I am going, yes he will. We got this (But convincing a 12yo this is not that easy). So, we had lessons that were direct opposite of most horseback riding lessons. Drop your reins and just keep asking for more. Anywhere. In the arena. In the field. On the trail. Let him understand, he can run fast with a human on his back. It took a few months, but he started to get more and more bold.
Barrel Racing
We started him on barrels. He is a small, scrappy gelding so he could turn on a dime. He just wasn’t fast. But it was ok, as we were teaching him speed it gave us time to teach him how to turn. By the beginning of 2023, Wrangler was running a pretty good barrel pattern. He was a few seconds slower than the other horses but he was working good. But then another issue, April of 2023 he became very lame. It was laminitis. The early grass got him! It took about 2 months but thankfully, he healed! But that meant he was not ridden for 2 months. As you know, this is not good for a young horse in training.
Training Again
3 steps back…. We got him back into work. He was out of shape and his pattern was not as good as it had gotten to. Leah did become a little discouraged (rightfully so) but we had to keep the faith. She went back to working him regularly and he started progressing, again.
By the end of 2023, start of 2024, Wrangler had really starting to run some nice patterns. They won a little money at a local NBHA 4D show. Leah started seeing that her consistency and hard work was paying off.
J Bar W Ranch
In 2023, while Leah was training Wrangler, she did take Hank to J Bar W Ranch for a few rodeos. Once, they did win 4th place and some money. She was happy about it, but it still was not the same as first. With the Victory Lap. Leah and Hank finished the 2023 season at J Bar W Ranch in 15th place. Leah’s next goal was to finish the J Bar W Ranch season in the top 5. She had some work to do!
J Bar offers Wednesday night jackpots as well as Saturday night rodeos. Their season runs May to September, roughly. Leah and Wrangler started goint to the Wednesday night jackpot. They did well! Not super fast at first, good runs. They also entered the Saturday night rodeos. Again, ok runs, but not fast enough for the money or the win. Leah kept attending the Wednesday night jackpots and she started WINNING THEM! Then, she would enter the Saturday night rodeos and she would not do well. Her and Wrangler seemed to knock a barrel at every rodeo. She was again, becoming frustrated and discouraged.
Just Kept Working
I kept reminding her that consistency and training is the key. That her and Wrangler have to find themselves and one day it is just going to ‘CLICK’.She decided she was going to focus on anything she could to make her and Wrangler better. She made sure she rode him several times a week to keep him fit. We met about once a week for a lesson. He was getting faster and faster but they just kept knocking the second barrel. Then, we changed a few things with his bit and tack.
FINALLY
On September 9th, 2024, nearly 3 years to the day since this little girl went to her first rodeo at J Bar W Ranch, SHE DID IT. Her and Wrangler won it! Not only did they win it, but they ran a time that no one even came close to! She ran a 15.76 and second place was 16.12. Nearly half a second faster. In barrel racing, that is a big gap. It was amazing to see. This team laid down a barrel pattern and looked like they had been running barrels for YEARS!
Leah and Wrangler ran their Victory Lap….
This team is the epitome of ‘Have faith and don’t give up’.
