Hailey Kinsel collected over $100,000 across just three rounds of NFR barrel racing in 2024 aboard DM Sissy Hayday, matching her second round time of 13.48 to add Round 3 to her collection.
No, barrel racer’s aren’t seeing double at the beginning of the National Finals Rodeo 2024, Hailey Kinsel, Kassie Mowry and Tiany Schuster shuffled around in the top three for the second consecutive evening of NFR barrel racing. See results.
Kinsel’s third round was a bit unconventional, however, with a stutter between the first and second turns. From the cameras, it nearly looked like Sister would go on the wrong side of the turn.
“You probably can’t see it from home or on the broadcast,” Kinsel said. “But there’s an LED screen that changes for every girl behind the second barrel, and it’s eye level with the horses. They look right at it and run straight across at it. So I just looked at my video, and when I ran at it, there was black or brown to the right of the barrel, behind it was a multicolored horse, then to the left, it was bright white. So, I don’t know if she couldn’t see the barrel because it was off in the dark, or if she was just looking at the bright and got a little blinded.. I was running across, got a stride out and realized she hadn’t seen it, so I had to pull the right rein, inside foot squeeze and make a big move all at once.”
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Although Kinsel doesn’t like to pull out emergency moves in competition, she noted that they are important to have in your tool belt if there’s money on the line, for safety or winning reasons.
Preparing to win
“Everything about our sport is anti-confidence, it’s meant to shake (our horses) up. that’s why you’re the thing that puts them back together, every time.”
Hailey Kinsel
Despite winning Round 2 on the previous evening Kinsel was in the arena at 6 a.m. on the following morning with a calculated plan for Sister before Round 3.
“I worked her in really big circles,” Kinsel said. “In barrel racer terms, I overflexed her a lot going into every barrel, asked her to move her hip around, keep tracking and keep reaching around the barrel. I needed to make a clear point that I wanted as much space as possible. I did that once, then I just rode her around in open arena and let her get relaxed and hang out.”
See results and updated World Standings here.
The win marks No. 24 in NFR barrel racing go-rounds for Hailey Kinsel and Sister. Round 4 kicks off on Dec. 8.
