Riders from Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and other states gathered at the Kirk Fordice Equine Center in Jackson, Miss., for the three-day Ultimate Bayou Gold Barrel Race that began Aug. 13, organizers with Bayou Productions said. The event is part of a larger competitive barrel-racing circuit and tests speed, timing and control as horses race a three-barrel pattern, Bayou Productions said.
Ten-year-old Journee Herrington of Natchez, Miss., waited outside the arena with her horse, Turbo, and said she loves the sport and coming to Jackson. “I love barrel racing, and I love coming to Jackson,” Journee said. She told Mississippi Today she competes in part to honor her brother, who died a few years ago. Her father, Jeremis Herrington, wrote on social media that he saw “her big brother’s smile shining through her.”
Eight-year-old Leah Cattani of Franklinton, La., and her father, Dan Cattani, washed and prepared their horse, Thunder, before Leah’s run. “I am so proud of her,” Dan Cattani said, noting Leah has ridden since age 3 and competed since she was 5. Leah’s first run took nearly 18 seconds, Cattani said, and he used the run to teach her to pull Thunder’s head around the barrel faster to cut time. “This is so much fun,” Leah said after her run.
Dawn Hawkins of Walker, La., brought a new horse, Baby, to see how the pair measured up against regional competitors. “The best of the best usually come here to Jackson,” Hawkins said. Baby had fewer than 10 runs before the event, and Hawkins said they had a few mistakes but planned to try again the next day. “It’s magic,” she said of training a young horse to run barrels.
Scenes from the arena included dust kicked up by fast turns, announcers calling play-by-play and riders celebrating or regrouping after runs. Mississippi Today photographer Eric Shelton documented the competitors and horses at the Kirk Fordice Equine Center, a facility named for former Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice, organizers said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
