Friday, January 1, 2010

This Site Has Moved!

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2010, and with the new year comes lots of changes at the Barrel Racing Blog. As of today, I will no longer be posting content at THIS web address. You'll need to head on over to www.thebarrelracingblog.wordpress.com to find all of the site's new content.

This new site allows for me to keep a lot more permanent content around for you to see. I encourage you to explore all of the pages I have to offer, because there are a lot of really great stories that have come through the ranks on this site.

PLEASE, if you have any suggestions for the new site, news tips or you just want the old site back, LET ME KNOW! I love to hear from you. Remember, this site is for the barrel racing community, so help make it what you want!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Famous Silk Panties $100,000 BFA World Championship Run

The Graves Ranch has a great YouTube site that posts many of their horses' runs, and I thought you all might like to see Graves' run aboard Famous Silk Panties, winning the BFA Superstakes. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

TheTrickedOutHorse.com's Lisa Barone - Part 2!

The woman behind The Tricked Out Horse brings real rodeo barrel racing experience to her outlaw brand of tack and belts. Lisa Barone has had success in the International Professional Rodeo Association, American Professional Rodeo Association, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress. Aboard her two mares, this summer she was the high-money earner on Dave Martin's Bullride Mania Tour and last winter won the Sundance Arena Series. Below, Barone talks with The Barrel Racing Blog about her successes as a barrel racer and her life outside the arena.




Where are you from? 
Originally upstate New York, now reside in Fayetteville, Penn.

When did you begin barrel racing, and how did you get involved in the sport? 
I started running barrels when I was 12. I've been riding even before I could walk. I started with show horses and pony hunters. As I got older I still showed horses, but started taking a liking to the speed events. Being from NY, we didn't have a High School or Youth rodeo team, nor did I even know much about rodeo. Alls I know is that I would go watch the local pro rodeo when it would come to town and think that it would be awesome to be able to compete like that someday. So I would just run barrels at our local shows, and as I got to be about 15, I decided that since I didn't like the politics in the show world that I would just strictly run barrels. Then not to long after that I wasn't only competing with those people I watched at the rodeos but I was winning championships. I moved to Penn. in spring of 2001, and in the past eight years I've had much success with the help of a few great horses.

What are some of your biggest successes in your barrel racing career? 
IFR Qualifier, NERF IPRA Barrel Racing Champion, 2 time APRA Champion, Multiple time PRCA Circuit Finals Qualifier, Dodge National Circuit Finals Qualifier, 4x SRA Finals Qualifier, QH Congress Reserve Champion and Finals qualifier, as well as multiple barrel racing and open rodeo achievements.


What horses do you run now, and what horses have you had the most success on in the past? 
I have two mares that I run currently, mostly one that most people know as "Reba" or Hears The Deal, as she is known on her papers. She is 14-year-old once in a lifetime horse. I purchased her from Deena Fries in November of 2001, and since then the mare has suffered three broken legs and still runs hard and gives 100%. She has the biggest heart of any horse I've ever seen. She may not set the world on fire like she once did, but she loves her job and will make the same run every time and put me somewhere at the top. She is Jet of Honor on the top and out of Colonel Freckles mare, I have a beautiful, coming 2 yr old Frenchmans Guy out of her that I will be hauling in the future. Reba will be bred back to "Guy" this spring and I am selling a few of her embryos, to keep her legacy going. If her babies have even half the heart she has, it will be such a blessing.
I also run a 13-year-old palomino mare, ThisBlondeMeansWar, "Blondie". She is mostly all foundation bred. I've only had her for about a year but I've tried to buy her for the past six years, and finally in February I got the word that she was for sale, and the rest is history.

What do you do when you aren't on the road? 
When I'm not on the road, which is scarce at times, I spend time keeping all my business' running smoothly. Besides the leather business, I'm also a Certified Equine Massage Therapist and Adjustor, as well as I take some horses in for tune ups and have a descent size group of lesson students. Between all that I also help my fiancee, John Leinaweaver, keep his bucking program running smoothly. All in all there is no such thing as spare time around our household.

What associations do you run? 
I run IPRA, ECWPRA, WPRA, APRA, SRA, SEBRA, NBHA, IBRA, as well as a few I probably forgot to mention!

What are your barrel racing plans and goals for 2010? 
Hmm, that's a tough one. I'm taking this next year day by day. We have a little girl due at the beginning of March, therefore I'm not sure how much hauling I will be doing. I may just want to stay home and be a mommy for a while. We shall see, I even surprise myself at times. I do know that I would like to haul my colt some to get her used to all the chaos. As far as goals... only time will tell.



How does your background in barrel racing help you make better tack?
I see so many people buying tack, gluing "sparkly stuff" on it and selling to the public. I personally wouldn't use any of that on my horses as its mostly junk and it will fall apart. The cheap and competitive prices on those items normally reflect the quality. Therefore I sell only what I would use myself. I make all my tack custom... from beginning to end by hand. I cut out the Breastcollars, Headstalls, etc. then sew them together and hand set all the glitz. Therefore I intend on being the best out there in providing custom items to the buyer.

Monday, December 14, 2009

TheTrickedOutHorse.com's Lisa Barone - Part 1!


Barrel racer, soon-to-be mother and bride-to-be Lisa Barone has had a lot on her plate this past year, but none of that has stopped her from producing some of the most eye-catching tack and western accessories east of the Mississippi. Her company, The Tricked Out Horse, offers more to barrel racers than the simple bling headstalls and breast collars. From her wide selection of hides to her poker-chip conchos, Barone and The Tricked Out Horse bring an outlaw edge to tack world. 

What products do  you offer? 
We offer headstalls, breastcollars, tripping collars, tie-down nosebands, bronc halters, belts, spur straps, dog collars, buckle purses, diaper bags, gear/clothes bags and misc. items such as crosses, drink coozies and coaster, over-and-unders and stirrup hobbles. Basically we can make virtually anything.


Why are your products different from other lines out on the market? 
Most lines are custom, and all our work is made from scratch. I have come up with some styles that haven't been touched on yet. Plus I let the customers come up with their own design and make it to their specifications


Who is your target market and why? 
I have a wide range of market from Show to Rodeo. My dog collars for instance are sought after by many being that it is my own design and there aren't any like them on the market.
What is your inspiration for your work?  
I'm a very creative, artistic and competitive person. I like to be the best at all I do as well as I like having satisfied customers. Happy customers are repeat customers.


When did you start making tack/belts/etc.? 
2005
What is the price range for a headstall/breastcollar set? 
$300-$700


How can readers of The Barrel Racing Blog get a hold of your products?

Check back tomorrow for more on Barone's barrel racing accolades and how that's helped her put together these great products!






Thursday, December 10, 2009

A True Testament to the Barrel Racing Community

Bobby "Booger" Barter's death is devastating to the barrel racing and team roping industries. With that said, his death has underscored the fact that these so-called industries are much more than just that - these are communities of people who love and care for one another in ways not comparable in many other areas of life.

While the details of Barter's death remain unclear and may never truly be known to anyone but his immediate family and Barter himself, what will always be known is how Barter lived. His devotion to barrel racing and team roping as sports and as communities of people produced forums like BarrelRacingBuzz.com, where still today complete strangers are coming together to morn his loss. Though they are in mourning, conversations continue on about Christmas recipes, the National Finals Rodeo and more.

Already, an NBHA district in Texas is organizing a fundraiser for Barter's young son, Bandera, selling $5-arm bands. Friends of Barter are uploading videos of his fun-loving ways to the forum, and some are discussing having a Booger Barter Memorial Show.

For some reason that I'll never know or begin to understand, barrel racers come together because we get each other. In times of grief, we can relate to one another like few others in our lives. In times of joy, we celebrate together. When Sherri Cervi and Tammy Key ran Stingray and Dinero, respectively, in Round 6, we all knew that we were witnessing a special moment in barrel racing history. Unfortunately, we also knew that that moment would be overshadowed by the heartbreaking moment that occurred in Athens, Texas, earlier that same day.

Yesterday, I posted a short blip about Barter's death, linking to The Barrel Racing Report that ran what appeared on the World Barrel Racing and World Team Roping websites. That short post received more views than any other story in the nine-month history of this blog. In fact, it received more than twice as many views as any other post I've ever put on the site.

Normally, most of the Barrel Racing Blog's readers come from Pennsylvania and Ohio, but yesterday, a national audience flocked to this small site. Readers came in from Athens, Texas, and Athens, Ohio. Obviously, most visited the post about Barter's death, but many poked around at what else the Barrel Racing Blog had to offer. If I were to guess why, I would say it's because we as barrel racers can't help ourselves - if we see an article about Joe B Jammin or a listing of results from a small town rodeo in Ohio, we can't resist.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Sad news in this week's Barrel Racing Report

This week's issue of The Barrel Racing Report delivers some terrible news for the barrel racing industry as a whole. As reported last night on World Barrel Racing Production's and World Team Roping Production's websites, Bobby "Booger" Barter has died and with him he has taken the WBR and WTR. His death and the loss of the WBR and WTR has left a vacuum in the industry, one that because of lessons learned from Barter's groundbreaking ventures in both industries, will be filled in due time.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Change is Coming!

So, if you've noticed that things have slowed down here at The Barrel Racing Blog, I really apologize! I've been making big plans to move this blog over to a NEW site, with tons of new features and lots of great information.

Pretty soon, I'll need you all to start logging onto www.thebarrelracingblog.wordpress.com, where I'll be adding content daily. The new site right now has the same content as this one, and you can continue to get content on both sites until Jan. 1 when the new site will be fully up-and-running!

Throughout this process, I'd love to get feedback from my loyal readers. This website began as a venture in building an online community of barrel racers and helping barrel racing enthusiasts connect with one another. So, nothing would help me more than hearing from you exactly what you would like to see in a barrel racing website.

QUESTIONS: What can I do to improve The Barrel Racing Blog? How can I help you interact more with this site and with one another?