THIS weekend, in Tamworth, the late Patsie Holder of Cootamundra will be honoured with a main race in the inaugural Australian Barrel Horse Association (ABHA) National Finals named after her.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Until January last year, Patsie was secretary of the ABHA, and prior to this for many years was secretary of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) until the women amalgamated with the Men and became the APRA (Australian Professional Rodeo Association).
Patsie was widely considered an ambassador for women in rodeo and was admired by many, with local rodeo rider Suzie Dicks saying the ABHA would not be where it is today without the support and dedication Patsie provided.
Sadly, Patsie passed away in May last year.
The inaugural finals will take place at the Australian Equine Livestock and Events Centre, Tamworth this Friday, Saturday and Sunday and competing in that final will be a stack of Riverina riders including Suzie from Cootamundra and daughter of Patsie and Bob, Kerrie Holder.
The Australian Barrel Horse Association was formed in Tamworth in 1996 and now has more than 1200 members.
In excess of 20 affiliates stage events throughout the country during each competition year and the Association is open to any rider and any horse, making it inexpensive and accessible for people to become involved.
As the Association grew, the board of directors decided it was time to showcase the Association and the fast growing sport of barrel racing.
During the past performance year, which ran from July 1, 2013 until June 30 2014, members had to compete at a minimum of five events to qualify to compete at this weekend’s National Finals.
Entries far exceeded expectations for the first year of staging this event with more than 240 horses in the Open Divisional event and 100 entries in youth divisional event.
The Open Divisional will have a purse of over $32,800 whilst the Youth purse will exceed $11,500.
The Patsie Holder Memorial Classic Barrel Race, which is an aged event for horses six years and under, will have a cash prize pool of $11,500.
In total there will be more than $55,000 in cash to be won.
Eight trophy saddles and buckles will also be on offer over the three days together with various trophy rugs and prizes. This event is now the biggest barrel racing weekend ever run in Australia to date.
Kerrie and Suzie together run ABHA affiliated Divisional Barrel Race’s at the Cootamundra Rodeo Grounds.
The most recent event was on August 2 this year with riders attending from Canberra and Tooma to get one last competition run in before the finals.
Kerri and Suzie are working towards holding an event at the Cootamundra Rodeo Grounds once a month with the next event scheduled for October. The ABHA is designed for all riders at any level so they are encouraging more people to get involved.
Cootamundra;s connection with the ABHA extends beyond the Holder name with local business Weed Masters sponsoring the National Finals also.
Other Riverina contenders at this weekend’s National Finals including Adele Edwards of Gundagai, Vicki and Tania Schiller of Wagga, Jake Hensley of Wagga, Jean Batchelor of Grong Grong, Vanessa Atkins of Gerogery, Lisa and Kylie Coates of Tarcutta and Temora’s Jennifer Clemson.
