A group of local teenagers with aspirations of becoming professional barrel racers will go to Oklahoma City, Okla., next month where each will compete in the Better Barrel Races (BBR) World Finals in the youth division.
The girls are Kelsey Stum, a Hillsboro High School sophomore; Maiya Green, a Northwest High School freshman; Bailey Gibson, a Seckman High School sophomore; and Riley Shaw-Allen, an eight-grader at Riverbend Middle School in Pacific.
Maiya said she, Bailey and Riley became friends through the Grubville Saddle Club show, and they met Kelsey through other horse shows. Bailey said they are excited to go to the World Finals and experience it together.
They will be among more than 1,800 contestants to compete in the April 22-27 World Finals, described as the world’s largest division finals for barrel racers.
Barrel racing is a rodeo competition event, mostly for females, in which a mounted rider makes a series of quick, sharp turns around three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern. The competitor with the fastest time wins.
Suzette Dunnigan, who offers riding lessons and taught Maiya, said it’s a big deal for the girls to make it to the World Finals. Dunnigan also trains and shows horses, as well as judges many local horse shows.
“It will be a lifetime experience for them,” she said. “They all started out at the small shows.”
Dunnigan, 68, of Dittmer said qualifying for the World Finals took a lot of hard work and dedication, not only from the girls but their parents and grandparents.
“They all live and breathe horses,” she said. “That’s why they are so successful at it.”
Kelsey
While this is the first time Maiya, Riley and Bailey will go to the World Finals, it is the second time for Kelsey, 16, who is the daughter of Shannon and Benjamin Stum of rural Festus.
Kelsey said she started riding with her uncle when she was 4 and started competing in barrel racing and other speed events in 2021, although she has only been competing regularly the past two years.
“It’s really all I do in my free time,” she said.
Kelsey will compete at the World Finals for a second time.
Kelsey said her proudest moment was competing at the World Finals two years ago.
“I only had my older horse (Mick) who wasn’t running the best, but I went just for the experience then, and we did place (in youth division) and get money out of it,” she said.
Another proud moment for Kelsey was finishing in the top 10 for the state of Missouri with BBR. She said she wants to get even better and see how far she can go competitively.
Kelsey said she is looking forward to taking horses, Mick and Seven, to the World Finals next month but has bigger goals after that.
“My personal goals are to qualify for the Junior Patriot and to keep working toward getting my ‘pro card,’ said Kelsey, who explained she must have a “pro card” to compete as a professional athlete.
She plans to attend the American School of Equine Dentistry in Virginia while training and advancing her career in barrel racing.
Maiya
Maiya, 14, the daughter of Liz and Jacob Green of Cedar Hill, said she started riding horses for fun when she was 9 years old. She was 10 when she had her first riding lesson, and she started showing horses in 2021 and barrel racing competitively in fall 2023.
“I started riding because I just loved horses, but I started racing because the lady I did lessons with, she always would do barrels for fun,” she said. “I really started to like it.”
Maiya said she began going to all the races she could with her quarterhorse Dolly. She regularly competes at the Reflections Equestrian Center south of Festus and at Flickerwood Arena north of Jackson.
She said she enjoyed performing this past summer at the Jefferson County Rodeo, her first big rodeo.
Maiya said she is grateful for her grandmother, Terri Green, who keeps her horses at her farm and hauls her around to the shows and races.
She said qualifying for the World Finals by completing eight qualifying races as a BBR member was her proudest moment.
“My goal in barrel racing is to continue into pro rodeoing, and I definitely want to take it into my adulthood,” she said. “My plan for after high school is to go to college and become an equine veterinarian and hopefully try to rodeo at the same time.”
Bailey
Bailey, 16, is the daughter of Katie and Marc Gibson of House Springs.
She said she has been riding since she was 6 and started barrel racing three years ago. She got her current barrel racing horse, Oscar, a 13-year-old leopard appaloosa, a year ago.
Bailey said she enjoys barrel racing more than anything.
“I just enjoy barrel racing more because it’s more of like a speed event,” she said. “I like doing the speed events more than like the stuff at shows.”
Bailey said her proudest moment for barrel racing was qualifying for the World Finals.
“And running my fastest arena time that was a 16.277 (seconds),” she added.
“My personal goal with barrel racing is to continue becoming a better racer and continue to run faster times,” she said. “My plan after high school is to give lessons to kids and train horses and continue to rodeo at the same time.”
Riley
Riley, 14, is the daughter of Kelly Shaw-Allen and David Allen of Villa Ridge.
She said she grew up around horses and started riding before she could walk. She also grew up watching her sisters race and she tried it for the first time when she was 5.
“I would beg my parents to watch like the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) on TV, and I just always said that’s exactly what I wanted to do when I got older,” she said.
Riley said her grandfather really helped her get into barrel racing. She got her own horse, Remi, in 2022 and started getting comfortable with her last year.
She said her proudest moment in barrel racing was when she won the 2024 Jefferson County Trail Riders Youth Belt Buckle.
“I won that buckle after being out two of the six shows due to breaking my elbow and still won the youth class buckle,” she said.
Riley said her goal is to make it to the Short Go Run at the BBR World Finals and start professional rodeoing.
“My plan after high school is to go to college to be an equine vet and breed and train barrel horses,” Riley said.
Life lessons
Liz Green said Maiya has learned patience, responsibility, perseverance and determination just by owning and caring for Dolly and her first horse, Lena. She feeds them, cleans up after them and makes sure they get proper care.
Maiya said Dolly has been more challenging than Lena, who was fully trained and more mature.
Liz said Dolly misbehaved the entire time at her first show in July 2023 at Grubville.
“I cried and cried and cried and told everyone I was going to sell her,” Maiya said. “She was such a brat. I was used to Lena, who was this perfect horse who will do whatever you want, whenever you want … I didn’t understand that I had to ride her differently than I did Lena and I actually had to make her know that I’m the boss.”
They finally bonded in October, Maiya said.
Expensive hobby
Barrel racing is an expensive hobby.
Liz estimates that feed, alone, costs $1,200 a year, and bedding is about $500. Horseshoes are $100 a visit and needed every six to eight weeks. Vet costs are at least $350 a year.
Tack, show clothing for the girls, grooming supplies and equipment, and horse wear can cost thousands of dollars. Another large expense is for fuel and hauling.
For each horse show, it costs $5-$10 to compete in a specific category, with shows taking place all year. Barrel races cost $60 to $100 a run. Entering the World Finals costs $300 for the total competition, and side pot rates range from $60-$75 a run.
Each of the girls is looking for additional sponsors. For information about how to sponsor the girls, email maiyagreen2213@gmail.com for Maiya; kasallen4@gmail.com for Riley; mrckatgibson@aol.com for Bailey; and shannonstum@yahoo.com for Kelsey.