ST. PAUL – A St. Paul youth has secured her spot in the Lakeland Rodeo Association (LRA) finals in the peewee barrel racing category. The rodeo will be held in St. Paul at the Clancy Richard Arena from Aug. 28 to 31.
Participating in the LRA finals is a dream come true for 11-year-old Emma Charbonneau.
Her mother, Crystal, says when Emma was about eight years old, their family was watching barrel racing at the LRA Finals. “She asked me how she could run there, someday.”
That dream stuck with Emma. Since then - for the past three years - Emma had been competing in the LRA and various other rodeo competitions, spending hours training and learning, aiming to one day contend against the very best.
It takes a lot of discipline, grit, and determination to compete at a rodeo, says Crystal.
“She has to ride her horse about three times a week,” regularly exercise, and take care of her horse. “Taking care and spending quality time with her horse really builds their connection.”
Qualifying for the finals has Emma feeling “very excited, especially because [St. Paul] is my hometown.”
Emma says she likes barrel racing because of “the competition and bonding with my horse.”
She was particularly excited talking about her thoroughbred, quarter horse. “His name is Cash. He’s 21. He’s a sorrel horse with a white blaze face. He’s very fast and a bit crazy,” she says.
Emma and Cash started bonding last September. Emma says building a bond with her horse was a journey in itself, and that she’s grown a lot since her first run earlier this year.
With Cash, “I reached multiple of my goals, which was, first of all, to make the [LRA] Finals and to hopefully win a rodeo,” she says. “And I met both of those goals.”
Among Emma’s achievements this year include winning the peewee barrel racing with 17.17 seconds at the 2025 Didsbury Foothills Cowboy Association (FCA) Rodeo, held on Aug. 15 and 16.
Competing in rodeos is a challenging journey, says Emma. There are long drives to competitions that can be exhausting.
But it was well worth it, she says, because she was able to bond with her whole family.
“One time, we were really hungry going home from a rodeo. But we had the trailer so we couldn't go through the drive-thru, so we had to walk to the drive-thru at like 10 o' clock at night to get food.”
She recalls how they “had to like scream and bang on the window because the guy couldn't hear us because he had headphones on,” she said, giggling.
Her whole family has been her support system. Her mother and little sister are always there to encourage Emma, as well as “my dad . . . [and] brother, [who] helped us a lot with the truck and mechanical issues.”
Her grandparents also keep cheering her on, always phoning to check in and celebrate, or making the drive to watch her performances.
Competing in rodeo is not all about competition, according to Emma. “I had a lot of friends and fellow competitors that cheered me on.”
Crystal agreed. “We had lots of fun and lots of great friends that the girls have met over the last couple of summers that they’ve been barrel racing.”
Emma also thanked “God for keeping us safe through our travels. And that we come out of the arena every time, without getting hurt.”
Crystal affirmed, saying that being able to live on a farm, have animals, and more is “a real blessing that not a lot of people get the opportunity to do.”
“We definitely do not take that for granted and we definitely give God all the glory for being able to be safe and do what we love to do,” says Crystal.
This will be Emma’s last year competing at the peewee level, and she hopes to compete at a higher level in the future.
