The Money Barrel

Were back! And with a great episode featuring this years OKC $75,000 slot race champion Tricia Aldridge! A construction engineer who got her college degree then went back to training barrel horses - she talks about her journey from fixing problem horses to training 3 year olds and everything in between. Fun fact - she doesn’t have an arena. She hauls to ride or rides in cow fields - and if that do...

With the dominance displayed in the rodeo this past week by a daughter of PC Frenchmans Hayday – we decided to go to the start of this dynasty and talk with Tigh and Breelyn Cowan of T4 Quarter Horses – and the home of Sun Frost. Tigh's dad, Pat Cowan, is responsible for this yellow stallion who undeniably helped create a tougher, more gritty and fast breed of barrel horse and equine athlete. We d...

Have you ever wanted to be the fly on the wall in a room with industry legends just sharing their thoughts with friends ? Well we got that chance! With our co-host Ashley Schafer this week - we are sharing a great conversation with Brett Monroe and Cody Bauserman! Cody and Brett have been winning since the 1980s - each having won over $2,000,000 in their careers. From $100k slot race wins to multi...

If there’s one thing you’ll learn from our podcast with 2020 NFR round 2 winner Jimmie Smith - its that she loves and cherishes her main girl Lena! Jimmie took some time to talk to us as she was packing the trailer for Arlington and her story is full of ups and downs, determination to keep going and honesty about what it’s like being a rookie in the rodeo world - even if you win the 2018 Rookie of...

Kayla got the opportunity to speak with the #14 cowgirl in the world headed into the 2020 NFR, Wenda Johnson. Known for dominating at the futurities and big jackpots, to include winning the Xtreme Millions Barrel Race this year, Wenda is looking to keep the winning streak alive in Arlington. Wenda has a unique story that you are not going to want to miss, and you might learn a thing or two along t...

Lucky for all of us - we were able to talk to the CHAMP! Knocking on the door of the $3 Million earning mark, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi visited with us for a little this morning. We discussed everything - from her riding double with her dad to the play days growing up since they didn’t have a trailer, to how she manages her 50 head herd of elite equine athletes with her husband Garrett. It was a fun...

We were excited to take advantage of our opportunity to talk to the 2020 Wilderness Circuit Finals and year end champion Meka Farr! She’s a mom and wife with a full time job, plus trains her own horses and rodeos with the best of them. She shares the story of her amazing partner “Woody” who she purchased for next to nothing as a yearling out of a sale. We share how she went from that moment to yea...

Tonight we had the chance to visit with the 2x champ of the world, American champ and current world record holder on a WPRA rodeo standard pattern - Hailey Kinsel! It was a fun talk about all things rodeo, from keeping them in shape to hopping on different horses and how she navigated the year of 2020. We also touched base on the sponsor and social media aspect of our industry and she had some gre...

This week we are back on our NFR qualifier series with 2X NFR qualifier Tiany Schuster ! She was recently crowned the NBHA World Champion and we got to talk about the ups and downs of rodeo - from taking 4 years to fill her permit to winning Calgary, Showmance’s colic surgery and return to winning, how she manages her herd of 30 geldings and more! It was an honest and fun conversation!

This week, Kayla talks with lifelong cowgirl, Kelly Yates, who just won her second straight Mountain States Circuit Finals. The reserve world champ made her legacy with the industry changing mare Firewater Fiesta. We talked about her time with Fiesta, how rodeo has changed in her eyes, about the colts she runs and more!

Next up - newly married 2X NFR qualifier Emily Beisel (formerly Emily Miller)! She lit the Thomas and Mack on fire last December and then planned on a light winter rodeo schedule which turned into overcoming the hurdles of COVID and young horse rodeo seasoning to make it back to Arlington this year. This was a great conversation talking about the highs and lows of rodeos, how she balances barrel r...

Our first 2020 NFR qualifier to share their story with The Money Barrel is Shelley Morgan! Her first trip to the NFR was in 2009, and in February 2010 she lost her great horse Short Go. Since then she shares her story of getting back to the bright lights of Vegas (aka Arlington) this year and how her mare, Kiss, has restored her confidence ! We talked about her prep for the NFR which kicks off in...

 Up next on The Money Barrel - million dollar cowgirl Hallie Hanssen! She just wrapped up an incredible weekend at the Pink Buckle running back to back 16.7s on a standard pattern to win both rounds and the Open 1D Average and over $45,000! We talked about her superstar mare Tres Movidas aka “Vida”, a little oopsie this spring, about rodeos, bits, how her and her husband Lee survive training...

Today we had the opportunity to talk to Crystal Nichols of NickelBar Ranch. Crystal and her husband Radley have created one of the best breeding programs in the nation focusing on kind, solid, sane and winning barrel horses! They own Shawne Bug Leo, Al Cappone, Dashin Dynamo, The Kingsmen and Tres Fortunes. Not only do they focus on superior sires, they have incorporated top mares - such as TR Das...

Next up is our North Dakota cowgirl Molly Otto! We had many requests to talk to Molly especially since she has lit the futurity scene on fire this year winning all three rounds of the 5 States, taking home over $35k at the Royal Crown, cashing in on over $20k in Blue Collar Breeders money and placing even at the pro rodeos on her colts. Her program is simple, her colts are confident and we are loo...

Kayla gives a quick run down of the Futurity and Derby world, and talks about Stallion Incentives that each of your horses might be eligible for. Tune in to see if you are missing opportunities to bring home a little extra money at your next race. 

Anita Ellis - the first time futurity trainer that has been winning HUGE checks all year - is our guest this week! We got to talk about her year, what led her to training her first colt after almost 20 years away from riding, her not-so-secret weapon in her mom who is always able to give advice, how she overcomes her nerves while running and more!

Had an awesome talk this morning with Amelia McCumber! She took a different path to barrel racing success - by buying some young horses while focusing on her career and getting her medical degree to be a PA and then entering the futurity world. We talk about sticking it out with the difficult horses and how investing in her own knowledge helped her turn Wally aka Ain’t Seen Famous Yet from a watch...

We had the opportunity to talk to Lainie Whitmire of Whitmire Ranch and can’t wait to release this episode! We discussed her background growing up around the race tracks and how her filly Whistle Stop Cafe won the All American Futurity time trials last weekend. We got to touch base on she got into the cutting scene and has now created the World Cutting Horse Association and how always having a bar...

This next episode, with Samantha Winslow of Interval Timing and the Performance Horse Academy may as well be titled “the hard truths of barrel racing!” She talks about barrel racing in a different light - how the bio mechanics of the horse and rider can slow us down or speed us up in the pattern. We will talk to Sam multiple times, but her first episode has some mic drop moments that we can’t wait...

We are excited to get the chance to talk to Liz Herrin this week. A 2X College National Champion Barrel Racer and a winning all around cowgirl - she was sitting in the top 25 of the world when a freak accident with her good horse changed her life. She’s back to winning ways, but we can’t wait to share her story and how she overcame what could’ve been a deathly accident.

We can’t wait to talk to Samantha Flannery - a top 50 leading futurity trainer out of South Dakota that’s says it how it is, isn’t afraid to circle a barrel twice in competition and is one of the toughest competitors in the nation! She mainly focuses on 5 year old futurity horses and has rode many different bloodlines to the winners circle. This is going to be a fun one!

Maggie Poloncic not only trains and runs one of the most impressive athletes of our industry today, Ain’t Seen Me Yet, she is also an accomplished ballerina, dancer, and fitness guru. We can’t wait to talk to Maggie about how she went from buying finished horses to compete on, to taking it in her own hands with “Puff”. We ask Maggie how her commitments have changed focus over the years. From being...

There are many people who raise, train, and run their own horses. However, there are not very many who start from breeding the mare and flushing embryos themselves, to raising and training them, winning at the futurities, and making the NFR on those very horses. Dr. Kathy Grimes will be on our podcast to talk about what her journey has been like, how she manages everything she does, traveling solo...

What started as Smoke Creek Wirehairs has turned into a nations lifetime top 20 futurity breeding program including raising champions of the 5 State Futurity, Colorado Classic, Cornhusker, Greg Olson, MVP, BFA Futurity and Juvenile and so much more. We are so excited to talk to Bill and Cheryl Kennedy of Smoke Creek Quarter Horses about their breeding program, what it’s like to be an owner in the...