Barrel Racers Win Prizes

WALLA WALLA - Bar­rel racing may be for the ladies, but it's not a powder-puff sport. The event com­bines

a horse's athletic ability with the horsemanship skills of a rider to quickly, safely and successfully maneuver through a clover-leaf pattern around three barrels placed in a triangle in the center of an arena. It's also not entirely for women. Boys sometimes race in the youth divisions, and men have been known to compete in amateur races, said Waitsburg resident Rosie Gallaher. Gallaher, now 60, has been competing in barrel racing since she was 5.

This November, in a long-standing tradition from back when rodeo got started in the 1800s, several ladies from the Touchet Valley' s Valley Girls Barrel Racing Asso­ciation

competed, and won awards, for their participation in barrel racing at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds. Dayton's Shayla Currin and her horse Misshap Bi­ankus won the Barrel Horse of the Year. "This is truly an honor for both of them," Gal­laher said. The honors continued in Currin's family as Dayton champion Kelli Currin won a saddle in the open division. In seventh place was Adelle Smith, of Waitsburg. Cindy Lane of Prescott place eighth. All ladies received winter horse blankets and various horse items. In the honors division, Gallaher placed sixth. In the senior girls division, Tommie Hoyecki of Dayton placed third. Savana Cole of Waits­burg placed eighth. And Prescott's Jamie Thomas came in ninth.

The junior division cham­pion, winning a saddle and winter horse blanket, was Shayla Currin of Dayton. Second place was Sidney Andrews of Dayton. Josilyn Fullerton, also of Dayton, came in third. Fifth place was Waitsburg's Emily Adams. Sixth was Stacia Deal of Waitsburg. And eighth was Kaleigh White of Dayton.

In the novice horse di­vision, Dayton's Tommie Hoyecki on horse Mr. Sox Em Biankus placed second. Junior rookie of the year was Fullerton. Her prize was a belt buckle. Erma Smith of Waitsburg won a western curio box as an appreciation gift for helping time racers at Barrel Daze. Dayton's Amber Steinhoff graduated from the senior girls division to the open division. And Deal moved up from juniors to senior girls.

Others received Valley Girls director jackets to show appreciation for countless hours helping the ladies. Those awards went to Shayla Currin, Gallaher, Kelli Cur­rin,

Dayton's Chris Miller, Adele Smith, Kim Hoyecki, Tommie Hoyecki, Cindy Lane and Nikki Fullerton.

The Valley Girls Bar­rel Racing Association was formed in 1962 and is proba­bly

the oldest group of barrel racers in the Touchet Valley, Gallaher said.

In the spring of 1961, the President of the Washington Barrel Racing Association came to Walla Walla and established a regional awards system. At the close of the season, top ten awards were given. A saddle was given to the Walla Walla Regional Barrel Racing Champion in 1961. The following year, a formal group was organized as the Valley Girls Barrel Racing Association. A junior division was established. "Shodeos" were held to raise money for awards. Saddles and top ten awards were given. In 1977, the Valley had grown enough so that a third division was formed. Awards were given in the junior, senior, and open divisions. In 1995 the Novice Horse Division was added. The year 1998 saw the addition of another division, the Honors. The first Barrel Daze weekend was held in 1979, and the first futurity was add­ed in 1981. These two events, held together, have grown to be among the largest of their kind in the Northwest.