On Saturday, April 1 the Stettler Winter Barrel Series hosted its final jackpot with a silent auction, which raised a little more than $650 for the community.
“The club was formed because there were no other jackpots in winter,” said Jasmin Schultz, president of the Stettler Winter Barrel Series committee. “It’s a great way for barrel racers to keep their horses going throughout the winter, to have something to look forward to, and besides it’s also great for the kids.”
The club was formed some 15 years back to give Stettler and area rodeo community a place to keep running their horses during winter.
According to Schultz, since the jackpot is a smaller one compared to the others in the community and surrounding areas, the participants can practice in a competitive atmosphere and it is especially convenient for those who are just starting out.
The Stettler Winter Barrel Series has a committee made up of about a dozen volunteers who split into groups of three or four to help organize each jackpot throughout the series.
There is also a “prize committee” that’s in charge of getting the prizes and keeping track of those who qualify for them.
“We try and find sponsorship each year to help pay for it all, but this year was really difficult,” Schultz commented. “We had a few sponsors but the majority of the costs this year were funded by the club, from any profits that were made at the jackpots.”
Schultz added that the budget they worked to this year was really small and the club almost couldn’t afford to pay for the prizes this year.
“But we put together a silent auction at the finals and that helped,” Schultz said. “The committee is made up of a group of really great women who love to barrel race and who are a lot of fun to be around. Without their hard work and commitment to the sport, this series wouldn’t be possible. I’m grateful to have met them all and to be able to have worked alongside them.”
In the final jackpot the results were as follows.
PeeWee: 1D – Kayla Hronek 16.740, Addison 16.993; 2D – Whip Gertner 20.663; 3D – Cruz Lillico 21.030, Luke Hronek 21.831
Youth: 1D – Mikenna Schauer 13.809, Kelsey Rider 14.493; 2D – Hailey Loeppky 14.864, Alyssa McLaughlin 14.921; 3D – Lexa Bergstrom 15.988
Open: 1D – Joanne Long 14.035, Dawn Fryer 14.076, 2D – Celeste Montpellier 14.742, Brittany Strandquist 14.879; 3D – Jamye Lillico 15.507, Kobi Brower 15.526.