At just 22-years-old, Rylee McKenzie has travelled throughout North America more than most people do in a lifetime. The young barrel racer has been on a horse for most of her life and has been serious about her career as a barrel racer since she was a teenager.
This year has been something of a breakout year for McKenzie. Although she’s been competing in the United States and across Canada since turning 18, McKenzie had to work at achieving success on the competitive circuit.
“It was pretty dry at the beginning,” admits McKenzie. But one day, it was like “a light switch turned on,” and McKenzie suddenly started winning.
She is ranked 35th in the world, and for the first time ever, McKenzie has qualified for the Canadian Finals Rodeo, set to take place in Edmonton from Nov. 9 to 13. According to the CFR website, last week McKenzie was sitting in 16th place out of 20 competitors.
Qualifying for the CFR “hasn’t even absorbed yet,” says McKenzie. She adds she isn’t really thinking about the upcoming competition since she still has some other rodeos to attend before the month of October is up.
After spending some time at home and having about a month off, last week McKenzie packed her bags, hooked up her trailer, and set off for Billings, Montana, followed by a trip to Ogden, Utah, for the Wilderness Circuit Finals.
Over the past year, McKenzie has attended close to 80 rodeos.
“I was very, very tired in June and July.”
For most of the year, McKenzie is travelling on her own, putting in some long hours on the road. She has come to know many of the other rodeo competitors and has support along the way. In the busy summer months, McKenzie’s mom, Debbie, tags along with her daughter to help with the driving.
McKenzie often has to drive 10 to 16 hours at a time and in one four-day stretch the barrel racer went from Airdie to Wyoming, to Oregon, and then back to Canada and into B.C.
Overall, the hardest part of being a barrel racer is the driving, says McKenzie.
Of the countless rodeos she’s competed in, a couple events do stand out. In 2010, McKenzie placed second at the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey, B.C., taking home just over $15,000. And this year, McKenzie travelled to Reno, Nevada, for the first time to compete.
“I ended up doing really well there,” says McKenzie, who says the attitude toward barrel racers and other rodeo competitors in the United States is quite different than how the occupation is perceived north of the border.
“Pretty much as soon as you cross the border, it’s different,” explains McKenzie, adding, “They treat you like celebrities.” Events are often televised and receive quite a bit of publicity in the U.S.
This past July, while competing at an American event, McKenzie faced some tragedy. Her horse, Dollar, broke his leg while racing and had to be put down that same night. The next day, media outlets wanted to do interviews, which was hard, admits McKenzie.
Thankfully, McKenzie travels with two horses and had her other horse, JL, who was recovering from an injury, with her. McKenzie was able to continue on and within three weeks of JL’s return to competitive barrel racing, the duo was able to win about $15,000.
Looking forward to the upcoming CFR, McKenzie says she doesn’t necessarily have any specific goals in mind. “If I go in with no expectations and . . . just go in and do my job, that’s when I do my best,” she says.
But no matter what the outcome of the upcoming finals, McKenzie knows that she will continue doing what she loves.
“This is what I do.”
