You never know where life will lead. If you are dedicated and work hard to achieve your aspirations, you may be lucky enough to live your dream. Take, for example, an 11-year-old girl with a love for horses, but no horse. Who would have thought that, eventually, she and her husband would be teaching barrel racing clinics all over the United States? But she is. Her name is Vicki Rienhardt.

In the last couple of years, I’ve been hearing more and more about EPM. EPM stands for Equine Protozoa Myleoncephalitis. EPM is basically when a horse contracts a bacteria and experiences inflammation of the spinal cord.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to champion barrel racer Lindsay Sears. During my conversation with Lindsay, she stressed how important routine is for horses.

Some people don’t realize how important it is to take care of horses’ teeth. If a horse’s teeth start to get sore, it makes it difficult for him to respond to a bit and to turn barrels correctly.

In barrel racing, just like any sport, injuries happen. Unfortunately, with all of the action and power involved in barrel racing, injuries can be very devastating.

I have a young horse that will be out of training soon. I can’t wait until he’s ready to start hauling to exhibitions. With him, I’ve learned that there are a few things you need to make sure you do before working with a young horse.

My involvement with rodeo began at our local PRCA rodeo. If you are thinking that my first rodeo was in the professional rodeo arena, think again.