Tatum White is sitting second in the World Championship Junior Rodeo 19-&-Under barrel racing standings with 20,478.25 points, and the Madisonville, Texas, 17-year-old is headed back to Guthrie looking for redemption.
White, who is a homeschooled soon-to-be senior, didn’t start out rodeoing, but she’s wasted little time getting serious. Growing up watching her dad, White decided she wanted to run barrels and starting out on team roping horses before moving on.
“I started rodeoing about four years ago,” White said. “I seen my dad team roping, and then I decided on barrels.”
Now, White competes in barrels and poles, rodeoing through high school rodeo, YRA, PWR, WCJR and CPRA rodeos in Texas. She has already stacked up a list of accomplishments, including the PWR Challenger title, the 2025 CPRA Rookie of the Year title and the 2023 Texas High School Rodeo Rookie of the Year title.
For White, what she loves about the sport is simple.
“Just seeing different places around the world and being around my horses,” White said.
Her main barrel horses are Back Fourty Fame, known as Marley, and Red As Hell, known as Miss Hale.
“Marley been my main mount for a long time now,” White said. “She does have a very big attitude.”
Miss Hale came into White’s program in January, and the two are starting to click at the right time. White said both horses fit her style well.
“Both of them are pretty much easy to ride, and they’re just pretty much freestyle runners,” White said. “You just ride how you sit, but you don’t really have to push on them.”
White’s WCJR points have come from a full schedule of nominated rodeos and barrel races, including CPRA events and high school rodeos. She said they nominate nearly every event they can, which has helped her climb into the No. 2 spot in the 19-&-Under barrel racing standings.
She competed at the WCJR last year, placing in the top 10 in the rounds and making it back to the final round. This year, she is looking forward to another shot.
“I’m excited to go back for redemption after last year,” White said.
White is coming off the Texas High School Rodeo Association State Finals, where she placed seventh in the first round of barrels but had no luck other than that.
Those ups and downs are part of the challenge of barrel racing, and White said learning how to handle them is one of the hardest parts of the sport.
“One day you could go from winning a lot, and the next day you could go from not winning anything,” White said. “It’s the confidence and to not get let down.”
At home, White keeps her horses legged up by riding daily and sometimes taking them to the swimmer. Most weekends, she is on the road to a rodeo.
Mentally, White tries to keep things simple.
“I just try to keep my head up and look for the positive in everything and know that everything happens for a reason,” White said.
Long-term, White hopes to college rodeo, study business, qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo and eventually rodeo professionally. For now, she is focused on finishing strong this summer and making the most of her second trip to the WCJR.
“I want to qualify for nationals hopefully this next year,” White said. “Then win college rodeos and qualify for the CNFR and hopefully go pro after that.”