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.

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.

Two people, 65 horses killed in Lebanon Raceway (Ohio) Fire

In a terrible story coming out of Cincinnati today, at least 65 horses and two people are confirmed dead in the rubble of a barn that burnt down this morning at Lebanon Raceway.

CNN.com has a more thorough story on this tragedy, with video of the fire. According to CNN, this is the second fire at this facility, as in 1988 35 horses were killed in a fire.

Please keep those who lost their lives and those who lost their beloved horses in mind this weekend.

Save the Cowboys Fund

Some friends of mine began a fund for injured cowboys, and they have some really unique merchandise. Called Save the Cowboys and started by two bull riders themselves, this fund looks to help pay the medical bills of injured cowboys. It also it helping to feed their families while they can't work or ride. 

They're selling car magnets like the one above, t-shirts and patches.  All proceeds go back into the fund. To donate, click here. They will be selling merchandise at many BullRideMania events this year. 

Rodeo Attitude News - Site Review

Today I stumbled across a website for rodeo news across the country. Rodeo Attitude News calls itself the premiere rodeo website (which I can't quite verify), but it aggregates and produces industry news from the major associations - the WPRA, the PRCA and the PBR. 

The website, which is a bit tough to read and get through because it has so much information, divides its pages up by association. It acts as an aggregate for different association's press releases, and brings them all together - featuring event coverage, stories on competitors and even entertainment. The top headline today came from a PBR press release about Ty Murray as a competitor on ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

It does provide some useful content, as it links to the association's pages. The site tries to highlight association event listings, but it seems to be a bit behind. That said, keeping up-to-date with any events within the rodeo/barrel racing industry can be trying at best, as promoters themselves tend to be slow at disseminating information. 

The site has a lot of great resources, like practice pen listings and a personnel directory. It features some multimedia content and even message boards, which seem to be building an online community, as the message boards are relatively active. 

It focuses mostly on rodeos and barrel races West of the Mississippi, though. So, for those of us stuck in the Mid-West or Northeast, it's just a nice site to look at every once and awhile.  

Getting Started...

As the spring season heats up, we're all getting ready to move on to new things - outdoor arenas with our young horses, futurities, rodeos, etc. While I'm running a new young horse, I'm also trying something else new. I'm getting this blog underway to give myself a voice in the industry - I'm going to be commenting on everything from the ground at arenas I hit to new products I try to new ways my horse comes up with to hurt herself. I'll also feature interviews from interesting people I meet along the way and provide show results whenever I get them. If you have any suggestions for anything  you'd like to see on this site, please, please let me know! 

It's Henderson's Arena in Jackson, Ohio, this weekend for an NBHA show. Exhibition starts at 8 a.m. If you'll be there, let me know and give me a shout!