Sisters barrel racer takes title

Sisters equestrienne Bailey Knirk, 14, sweats the small stuff when she's training her two horses.

Spending quiet hours schooling and working on the basics paid off recently when Knirk came home from her first State 4-H Horse Fair, held during the State Fair in Salem, with the overall win in barrel racing in her age category.

At the fair, the top qualifiers in each event from all Oregon counties gather to compete. Knirk qualified in Figure 8, another gaming event, as well as in barrels. She hadn't gone against any of her fellow competitors before and enjoyed the large state fair atmosphere.

"I was super excited to go," she said. "Horses are my passion. I'd watched my sister Brooke get two state championships in volleyball, and I was excited and glad to also get a state championship in something I love."

Knirk's long-time trainer and 4-H leader, Alicia Lettenmaier, stressed that in 4-H, neither trainers nor parents are allowed to train the horses. The young people do all the work leading up to and during their county and state fairs. So although Knirk's parents, Julie and Eric, are supportive, it's Knirk's efforts that reap the rewards.

"One of the big things about Bailey is that she puts in the time on the fundamentals," said Lettenmaier. "She looks at all the tiny things, and the biomechanics of what she is doing, and focuses her training on that."

Her competition horse, Winnie, is a 5-year-old quarter horse mare that she's been working with since January. "I'm finishing her training," said Knirk, adding that Winnie is a calm and mellow all-around horse who can quietly work cattle, blast around a barrel pattern, and mosey along a trail on a day off.

Another fairly recent event in the 4-H repertoire is called Ranch Horse.

This year was the first time all Oregon counties produced qualifiers from the county 4-H fairs.

The event is made up of six separate elements - Ranchmanship, Horse Skills, Roping, Ranch Horse Pattern, Trail, and Cow Working - making it somewhat unwieldy to fit into the State Fair schedule this year.

So the state championship for that event was held last weekend at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond.

Knirk and Winnie qualified and came home with a third placing in Ranch Horse Pattern (this involves maneuvering through a set pattern of circles, straight lines, spins and stops) and a second in Trail (working through a series of obstacles that mimic a day in the life of a ranch horse).

Winnie isn't the only horse that Knirk is training. Flint, a three-year-old quarter horse gelding, has been her project since he was a yearling. "I started him at two, and am planning on him being my rodeo horse through high school and college."

Horses and rodeo are a big part of Knirk's life. She's been competing in Peewee Rodeo for several years and now that she's in high school, she's joined the Oregon High School Rodeo Association. That season is just beginning and will continue throughout the fall. Knirk competes in barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway roping and goat tying on Winnie as she continues Flint's training. She also plans to join the Sisters High School equestrian (OHSET) team. Wherever she is competing, she'll be quietly working out the small stuff, with big rewards.