06/19/07 History of barrel racing

A pretty girl flying around barrels seems as a much of the sport of rodeo today as 8 seconds on a rank bull, but barrel racing is a recent addition to the rodeo tradition. I'm Jeff Keane I'll be back in a moment. The outcry over Bonnie McCarroll's death on a bronc at the Pendleton Round-up in 1929 made it difficult for women to gain acceptance at rodeos. A few years later down in Texas, girls were judged for their looks, costumes and their ability execute a figure eight pattern set the stage for one of rodeos most popular events. Here's Becky with more to fill us in. The first true barrel race wasn't held until 1947 in Amarillo Texas at an all-girl rodeo. The women producing the contest dropped the requirements for costumes and the canter around barrels turned into running a cloverleaf pattern that was timed rather than judged. Leave it to a bunch of women to get it right! I didn't say that did I? Yeah Jeff, I think you did! In 1948 the Girls Rodeo Association was founded more and more stock contractors begin to include barrel racing at their rodeos. Today it seems barrel racing has always been part of rodeo but it wasn't until 1998 that it was included at the National Finals. It's amazing how far the sport has come, with the cost of barrel horses and prize money equaling or surpassing other rodeo events. It's also interesting Becky that the rodeo that originally banned women competitors, the Pendleton Round-up, now has the largest barrel racing pattern in the country, more than twice the standard size, I'm Jeff Keane