HEINSBURG – There are only a few days to go, and Heinsburg area barrel racer Chantel Kinch is “very excited” to have finally made it into the Lakeland Rodeo Association’s Showdown finals this weekend.
A barrel racer for 25 years, the past 10 with the LRA, she says that even after being in the top 10 in nine of this year’s 15 rodeos, including placing third at both Stoney Lake Stampede and the Gooseberry Lake Rodeo, “I was always in the bubble, but I didn’t really expect to make it into the finals.” That was before the a 16.564-second run in Kikino on the Aug. 17-18 weekend earned her a fourth place payout and moved her up into eighth place overall for the season.
Every rodeo means stiff competition, with between 70, 80 or occasionally even more entrants in the ladies’ barrel racing, “and sometimes up to 60 of them run in the slack,” but this year, Kinch’s new-to-her horse, named Charm, is “naturally fast” and that speed and years of competition experience has helped hugely in her move up the standings.
The pro-caliber Charm was previously owned by Kali Kott of Dewberry, and Kinch has “watched her for years, they ran at jackpots and pro rodeos,” and when Kott decided to find the 15-year-old mare a new owner, “she thought I’d be a good choice. I needed a nice old-lady-style horse… and she needed a bit of TLC.”
Along with her love of barrel racing, Kinch says her other passion is “rehabbing horses” so this was an ideal match. “I don’t deserve her, but she needed me. I’m so glad Kali trusted me with her.”
This was Kinch’s first year with Charm, who she declares was “a gift from God”, and as the successful season nears its end, “all the hard work is done, the rest is just fun.”
