Kinzie's first year of barrel racing

Jessie Kinzie started barrel racing in October of last year at the age of twelve. Since then she has made it to State and World Championships, turned 13 and has already qualified for next year's World competition.

Kinzie started riding horses at a very young age but stopped riding for a while after being thrown off her horse. She started riding again in 2018 when she helped at her best friend's farm, tending to horses and cattle. While there she learned how to break horses, got introduced to barrel racing and quickly started applying what she learned to her own mare, Starfire.

Starfire was a rescue horse from a farm in Texas. Once the two met, her dad, Lawrence Kinzie, said they immediately created a bond. "She wasn't the fastest horse but she was very consistent.. She went an entire year and never hit a barrel," said Lawrence. "She's actually the reason I made it to worlds," added Jessie.

Her first competition wasn't exactly smooth sailing. As Jessie was riding into the second barrel, Starfire tripped and almost went down before getting back up. "I was so scared," said Jessie smiling, "But we made it out of the arena okay and it actually helped to boost my confidence because I knew that if I could get through that at my first competition, then I could get through pretty much anything."

Although she still gets nervous before entering the arena, her performances in the competitions have improved significantly.

In barrel racing, the competitors' rankings are based off of time brackets. The fastest is 1D which starts at the first place competitor's time and after the third place competitor's time is recorded, the next placing competitors would be in 2D with that division's first, second and third places, then onto 3D and so on until 5D. Jessie started by placing in 5D and has since worked her way up to placing in 2D. Jessie has not gotten her official results back from the World Championship.

Jessie's dad said he believed Starfire was a blessing for his daughter because the mare had boosted Jessie's confidence in her ability to not only barrel race but also train her own horses.

However, Starfire got injured at the end of October and Jessie made the decision to retire her from racing. She did have another horse named Whiskey who is quite a bit shorter but has a massive stride, according to the Kinzies. Although Whiskey made a good horse to race, Jessie knew she would have to have a larger horse to achieve her goal of a fast time.

"She and I had an agreement," said Lawrence Kinzie, "I told her that she could keep her first year's earnings and I would pay for the rest. So she found this horse up in New York and I came up with a plan to surprise her."

The horse Jessie found was a thoroughbred who had been out in the pasture for two years with little to no attention. Lawrence let the woman know Jessie was wanting to pay for the colt with her own money and she only had $2,000 which was less than their asking price. After hearing from both Jessie and Lawrence, the previous owner felt sure that the colt would be going to a good home and agreed to the price.

A family friend who wished to have her mare trained by Jessie was temporarily out of work, and offered to go get the colt in New York if Lawrence would pay for the gas. Lawrence was ecstatic.

They tried to time the colt's arrival when Jessie would be at the barn, tending to Whiskey and Starfire. When the trailer pulled up, Jessie went to meet the mare that she thought she would be training. "When she backed out a big black colt, I was super confused until I saw his face. It was supposed to be a palomino mare," said Jessie smiling from ear to ear. "I was so excited, I'm really surprised I didn't start crying."

"I'm not just saying this because I'm her father but I don't know too many people, if any, that can say in their first year of competition that they have been able to accomplish what she has been able to by qualifying for Worlds twice and making it to the State Finals and ranking in State," said Lawrence. "Seeing the look on her face of joy and the smiling when she's coming out of the arena and knows she did well, that makes everything worth it for me."

When asked how it feels to come out of the arena after running your fastest time, Jessie said, "It feels like you've just won the lottery. Not with the money, but with the excitement and then knowing that all your hard work paid off, all the months and weeks, all the little things you have to do and pay attention to. It just pays off."