Barrels and Buckles with Shelby Vinson

This year I'm doing things a little different with my blog. I'm actually following a couple of different young people as they chase after something big.

One of those people I'm talking about is Shelby Vinson. Shelby is a young, home schooled barrel racer from Lennox, SD who is trying to be one of the best in her sport.

• South Dakota Barrel Racer Shelby Vinson

Last week Shelby sent me a picture of three of the horses that she's currently working. She sent me the text:

This is the family.  Tula is in the middle, Rudy is the grey and Maggie, my training horse is other one looking out into the field.

First of all, in the world of horseflesh, these are some good looking horses. They do look like they can run. But I was curious, what Shelby meant with the term training horse, so I called her.

On the phone, Shelby said a training horse is simply a reference given to a horse that's not quite there yet. You know, the kind of horse you unload, saddle up, limber up and just go and run. She said Maggie is kind of a work in process, a horse that's still learning how to rate her speed and handle angles and finesse when it comes to rounding the barrels at full speed.

Shelby ran at McCook, NE this past weekend. She said the pattern, even though it was indoors was a bit bigger than she anticipated so adjustments had to be made. She mentioned that she finished just out of the money.

Shelby is at a Jackpot in Lincoln, NE today and will travel back to Sioux Falls to run in the SDRA Rodeo that's part of the Tri-State Horse Expo Thursday through Sunday at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds. We'll keep you posted on her travels here!

If you know of a young person from our area who's chasing a dream with all they've got let me know. Shoot me an e-mail at jdcollins@kikn.com.