OLDS — Nancy Leischner says satisfying as it was for she and her horse Trooper to win the ladies barrel racing crown during Oldstoberfest, they’re not going to stop there.
During an interview with the Albertan, Leischner said although rodeos are virtually over for another season, barrel races will continue to be staged in the U.S. and Canada.
In fact, she said right now, she and her husband Ty are weighing the pros and cons of entering a competition in Oklahoma around mid-October or one much closer to home staged at about the same time in Ponoka.
The win during Oldstoberfest was only the second pro rodeo event Leischner and Trooper have won because she just turned pro this spring after three years of trying to qualify.
“It’s been kind of a thrill. We're kind of rookies and just kind of bringing it here," she said with a laugh.
Leischner is 34.
She and Ty live about 20 minutes east of Olds, near Torrington.
She always loved rodeo but wasn’t really able to get into it for many years
"I grew up doing 4-H and ...riding anything that I could get on, kind of thing," she said.
“But I had a single mom and we didn’t really have the means for me to do anything beyond that, so I was the kid who rode 30 kilometres to town to go to a horse show on the weekend kind of thing.
“So it’s honestly taken this long to kind of get to a point in my life where I can afford to play the game and I’m still not sure I can afford it, but here I am,” she said with a laugh.
Leischner worked at a John Deere dealership until her son was born eight years ago, then began training horses for clients.
Just in the last few years she’s been in a position to go after rodeo in a serious way.
"It’s definitely not a cheap game to play, but I’m pretty fortunate to have some pretty awesome support in my husband.
“And I’ve got some sponsors and some clients who have been very – just above and beyond. They’ve been amazing to me,” she said.
Winning the barrels on the weekend was extra special because Trooper got injured – pulled a muscle – at the beginning of July. It wasn’t a serious injury, but it made Trooper veery cautious, about barrel racing for a long time.
“It affected his confidence a lot. He was scared to commit to a turn, kind of thing," she said.
The duo got their first pro win by qualifying for the Calgary Stampede earlier this year. But Stampede came "kind of right after he hurt himself and it just kind of snowballed our confidence issues,” Leischner said.
"I ended up turning him out for a couple of weeks and just going back to basics and trying to build his confidence back up; just kind of like a little kid.”
As a result, Leischner had not entered any rodeos since the beginning of August, but couldn’t resist entering the Oldstoberfest one.
“Olds is my hometown rodeo, so I figured I might as well give it a go,” she said.
“And I think he (Trooper) might be mad that we haven’t been going (to other rodeos) because he kind of was just like, ‘hang on!’ He seemed really excited to be there.”
Now they want to build on that success.
Leischner wants to keep rodeoing as long as she can.
She cites Donna Kay Rule of Oklahoma as her idol. Rule, now in her early 60s, is one of the top barrel races in the world and has won a slew of competitions.
“It’s honestly one of those sports that we can go on with. As long as you can stay healthy and you know – somewhat fit and flexible and strong,” Leischner said.
“Kind of just like any other athlete, to be good at it, you need to have balance and strength and flexibility or else you’re going to get hurt, basically.
“She is a big goal. If I can be like Donna Kay Rule, I’ll be a happy lady in my senior years,” Leischner added with a short laugh.
