Riders take turns at barrel racing competition

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The field at Rockin' JK Arena in Marble Hill was full of horse trailers, horse noises and horse riders Saturday evening for the Heartland Barrel Racing Association's barrel racing competition.

Some people sweated while lugging buckets of water to fussy horses; others just sweated in the shade. Dozens of riders trotted their animals around the dirt trail behind the arena, waiting for their shot at turning the barrels. Some of the riders were young, some were older but bouncing between the faster veteran riders were several children who looked just barely old enough to sit on a horse.

Five-year-old Kate Chappell has been riding for about a year, her mother Kyleigh Chappell said. Barrel racing, in which riders vie to complete a clover pattern between barrels in the least amount of time, is a family tradition for the Sikeston, Missouri, family.

"My family has been doing this for more than 20 years," she said.

As Kate, riding 15-year-old Sydney, veers off the dirt track and comes trotting by, Kyleigh warns her not to get the horse too excited.

Kate Chappell, 5, warms up with Sydney before a barrel race Saturday evening at the Rockin' JK Arena. (Glenn Landberg)

"Walk her," she said. "Don't trot her."

"Woah," Kate orders, mustering all of her 5-year-old authority. And the horse stops.

Kate says she rides a couple days a week, not counting competitions, and it shows as her horse stops.

"I like to go fast," she said.

Not all of them are as eager on horseback, though. Wyatt Schrage, who also has ridden only for a year, won the last barrel race he competed in. But before Saturday's race, he was as shy as his horse. He wasn't the fastest of the group but he broke into a grin as his horse picked up speed on the home stretch.

The fastest performance came from fellow 5-year-old Blaine Sadler, winning the Pee-Wee riding class. Blaine, like Chappell, comes from a horse-riding Sikeston family. His brother Michael "Trace" Sadler III, who competed in the under-18 class, had just returned from a national youth competition in Pueblo, Colorado.

"I qualified in three events," he said. "Barrel racing, pole-bending and goat-tail untying."

Not bad for 8 years old.

His father, Michael Sadler, said the family takes their equestrian hobby seriously.

"We go all over the place," he said. "Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri. ... You name it, we go there."

Kyleigh Chappell admits it's an activity that takes more commitment than the softball or soccer her daughter also does, but it also is a more rewarding opportunity.

"I tell Kate all the time that she's very fortunate to be able to do what she does," she said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

388-3627