Chlupacek hooked on competition
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - 3:11 pm
By Jenny Carter
Banner-Press Staff Writer
While many teenagers dedicate free time to sports and school activities, fifteen-year-old Shianne Chlupacek of rural Bruno has a different outlet for her energy.
Four years ago, Chlupacek discovered the joys of barrel racing, and she has been hooked ever since.
Barrel racing is a sport in which the horse and rider must circle around three barrels set up in a triangular pattern, according to Chlupacek.
"You run around the one to either the right or the left, go to the opposite one next, and then the one furthest away," she said.
Chlupacek, who lives in Bruno with her parents, Ray and Chris, and brother, Dylan, recently finished her sophomore year at Aquinas.
At Aquinas, she is involved in track, which doesn't interfere with the barrel racing season that runs September through April.
During the summer, Chlupacek has more time to spend with Spinner, her eight-year-old paint horse, and Two-Eyed High Time, her two-year-old buckskin quarter horse, as well as Ray's horse Gunner, a nine-year-old pusheron draft horse. Spinner is Chlupacek's primary racing horse, although she plans to start riding "High Time" this summer.
Later this summer, Chlupacek is planning to stay with Ducky Vosler in Morse Bluff along with about 17 other girls.
While there, the girls will help take care of more than 50 horses, brush up on riding skills, and show horses at the county fair.
Vosler, or "Grandma" as Chlupacek fondly refers to her, taught her everything she needed to know about riding.
"She took me in like a daughter," Chlupacek said. Vosler's daughter, Eva Childers, who lives next door to Vosler, taught Chlupacek how to barrel race and show horses at the fair.
Chlupacek races all over
"The first year I raced, I got a buckle in the 3-D," Chlupacek said. The 3-D is a division of barrel racing, based on speed, and a buckle is a first place trophy in barrel racing. Since then, Chlupacek has won many more buckles and prizes.
"They're everywhere," she said. She has eight buckles and many other prizes around her bedroom, house, and even outdoors.
In barrel racing, time is all that matters as long as the course is followed correctly. Chlupacek's best time is 15.4, compared to the MBRA best time 14.8.
Chlupacek keeps herself and her horse in shape by practicing every day.
"We trot gravel roads or grass," she said. "It's a lot better for him just going out for a ride so he doesn't think every time he is an arena he has to run."
The best part of barrel racing for Chlupacek is the bond she has with her horse. "I trust my horse enough now," she said. "We've been together eight or nine years. She does not have to worry about getting hurt.
"It's my life, and I love it," Chlupacek said. ""I meet new friends all the time and get to hang out with my family. I would never give this up for anything."
This year, Chlupacek's barrel racing goal is to win the saddle. The person with the highest money throughout the year in barrel and pole racing in the MBRA wins the saddle. Last year, Chlupacek came in third for the saddle in the open class. The winner is determined by the number of times the horse and rider place in the top three during a race.
She is grateful to be backed by family and friends. "I have so much support from family and friends. I thank God for that. Without this support I don't think I'd being doing this much," she said. "I'd like to put in a special thanks for Eva Childers and Ducky Vosler. I couldn't be doing any of this without them."
