Barrel Horse World
In Between Runs

Loni Lester

By: Katelyn McLeod, writer for Barrel Horse World

When it comes to Loni Lester she is an all-around hand! Loni has been very competitive in the college rodeos, amateur rodeos, and the PRCA rodeos. Loni is a junior this year at Sam Houston State University where she will be graduating in May of 2018 with a degree in Animal Science and a minor in Equine Nutrition. Loni was recently named the 2017 Southern Region Barrel Racing Champion, the All-Around Champion, and helped the women's team to win the southern region and make a trip to college finals. She has also qualified for the college finals in the breakaway roping as well. The week after finishing her college rodeo year, Loni was at the top of the leaderboard at the Lufkin, Texas PRCA rodeo. Here are a few questions to get to know the lady with the fast horses.

Hometown: Gonzales, Texas!!

What horses do you travel with?
Depends on the destination or what kind of rodeo for my horse power or ground situation, arena.. etc As of now I haul my main roping horse, Boss, unless I use one of Blane's calf horses (we like to share horses) or my backup, Biscuit.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment is hard because I have been blessed in so many ways! I have qualified for several CPRA and UPRA finals. In high school I was the Texas State Champion All Around Cowgirl and Goat Tyer, I qualified for college nationals in the Breakaway 2016, I was this year's NIRA Southern Region All Around Cowgirl and Champion Barrel Racer, and won some pro rodeos in 2016 and 2017. And I hope to keep going!!

What is your favorite rodeo?
Hmmm, that is hard! When I went up north for the first time last summer (2016) to season my good mare and for my experience it was a blast!! I loved the Sheridan, Wy perf, Spanish Fork, Utah was awesome, Estes Park, Colorado was beautiful! There were so many amazing rodeos I cannot wait to go back out again next year when I finish school!

How do you prepare for the different arenas?
My preparation for different arenas all depends on the horse I am riding! Ivory and my other mare Aggie are pretty good and consistent. They are more consistent in indoor pens and better on hard, slippery ground. Champagne is a little harder to get by 3 runs on in an indoor pen or a building, but!!!!! we are getting better! (Example Lufkin haha)

Champagne is so much fun in wide open arenas with no fences or walls. She is the hardest running horse I have ever jumped on. Every time I get in the saddle I know she's going to give me 100%. It just depends on the day and how she ran in the last run to decide how I am going to tune her. Was she free or tight? Has she been pulling on me and needs to be backed off the bit? She definitely keeps me on my toes.

I will usually prepare at the house or find some barrels and just get her stopping at her rate point, loping circles to keep her hips underneath her and shoulders up. A general reminder to listen to me, because she wakes up everyday thinking she is a princess! Haha!! Sometimes you have to remind her she is not right all the time! In the indoors, she gets super ratey, she is so sensitive that she pays attention to every little body position, hand gesture or leg pressure! Sometimes it's really nice especially in outdoors when she can be going so hard, wide open one direction and I can just ease her back where we need to be, but sometimes it's a pain because I almost have to try to ride perfect every time because she is listening to every move I make!! She is such an athlete!!

What thoughts are going through your head before going in the alley?
I really have to focus in the alleyway that "This is not what's the most important in life". I can get so competitive and so upset after a bad run that I forget this is not what we were put on earth for! It's to glorify God! Our identity is found in Jesus Christ!! Many people talk of finding their identity in Christ and yet still find their worth and value from what they do. I'm the first one to admit guilt.The fact is that none of that changes our identity. Once we have been adopted, we receive His spirit on the inside of us. We begin to take on the characteristics of our Father. Once we discover our identity, it's simply a matter of walking in it. When we remove the fear of performance as the determining factor of our value and acceptance, we can receive the grace available to walk in the Spirit. My boyfriend, Blaine, is probably the best person for me especially after a bad run when he meets me in the alley, "This is all for fun, some people would love to do the things we do everyday, but cannot" or "his most common quote is 'what happens in the arena does not determine our joy in life and if you do wanna throw a fit or have a bad attitude that's the devil trying to get inside your head'".

How do you decide which horses to run at different rodeos?
Like I said earlier I decide what horse to run at different setups. Champagne is my fastest right now so I usually stick to her at the pro rodeos, if it is harder slicker ground I run one of my backups just because I know they will stand up better. Champagne still tries almost too hard that she turns so hard and drops so hard that sometimes believes every ground type will hold her!

What is the hardest thing about rodeoing?
The hardest thing about rodeoing would have to be time away from family. My family is very big on time spent together, because It is so important in life. They will always be there for you, support you and forgive you.

Where is your favorite place to eat on the road?
That's another hard one. I am not a picky eater but I do get tired of gas station store food for last-minute decisions at late night driving. I seriously need to start cooking more on the road!

What buckle do you wear?
The buckle I wear currently is "Hampton Memorial Breakaway Roping" where I won $5k. That was a very cool experience and you do not get that opportunity a lot to rope for that amount of money.

What was it like to win Lufkin, Tx?
It was awesome to win Lufkin PRCA . It was just a reminder to me that my mare is capable with competing with the best of the best, and that made my day!! Also, it gave me a boost of confidence that we CAN keep the barrels up in indoor pens!

How are you preparing for the CNFR?
To prepare for the CNFR will just consist of the normal exercise program and practice roping sessions before I leave. I will probably get Blaine to tune on boss, maybe make some tie down runs on him to get him snappy. I will enter some amateur rodeos to get some competition roping runs in to stay on my game. In the barrels, I have a lot of Texas circuit rodeos I need to try to enter before I leave for the college finals because I will be missing some when I am in Casper.

I would love to thank my parents because without their support I wouldn't be where I am today. I would like to thank my College rodeo Coach and his family for supporting me through rodeo and life. I would like to thank all my sponsors, one being Dr. Honas and Cameron Stout at Texas Equine in Bryan, Texas for supporting me and keeping my horses on their A game. Silver Lining Herb products for keeping my horses overall healthy. Purina Feeds for keeping me stocked with the best feed on the market, Justin Boots for keeping my feet comfortable, Charlie One Horse Hats for keeping me supplied through the winter and summer with cowboy hats, Bayou West Saddle Pads for keeping my horses backs feeling great, Oxygen Products for keeping my horses stomachs healthy and drinking on the road after a run good, and Crossfit Equine in Madisonville, Texas for keeping my horses in great shape.

We can't wait to keep up with Loni's upcoming adventures and we wish her the best!

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