Hallie Radford (10), on the surface, seems like a perfectly normal, well-adjusted teenage girl: medium height, dedicated student, bright red hair, with a brilliant mind. Her family consists of her mom, dad, and two brothers and two sisters, out of which she is the second oldest. Radford was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and has lived here ever since.

However, she has a few surprises up her sleeve. Radford is a racer, and not just any type of racer, but a barrel racer.

Radford originally wanted to join some sort of school sport, and her dad suggested working with horses. Radford agreed. She imagined she would be doing something with English riding like jumping, but her dad corrected her, saying she was going to be doing rodeo.

Radford ended up trying barrel racing in fifth grade and doesn’t regret it one bit. Barrel racing is an intense rodeo sport where the riders and their horses loop around barrels in a clover pattern. The goal is to get the fastest time without knocking any of the barrels over.

 Although it is a lot of fun, it can also be dangerous. Radford recalls an unfortunate time in her barrel racing career. “I was in a rodeo, I was competing, and I fell off my horse and I got a concussion. I wasn’t able to ride for a week,” she says. 

However, despite all of the dangers, she believes it is all worth it. According to Hallie, when you barrel race, it’s a sport where you have to work as one unit with your horse and you form an unbreakable bond with each other.

Radford currently has two horses that she rides. Only one is used for competitions and the other she uses for fun. Their names are Eddie and Tucker. She has had Eddie for three or four years and Tucker is a new member of her family, he’s also her race horse. When Radford first started taking care of her horses, it was really hard for her because she didn’t know what she was doing, although as she gained experience it got easier. Now it only takes fifteen to twenty minutes.

Needless to say, Hallie Radford loves barrel racing and won’t be quitting any time soon.