Barrel racing: “It gets your blood pumping.”

Houston County Sheriff’s Department’s Captain Michael Stokes performs his duty to keep the citizens in the county safe as his day job, but at home, he’s a proud father of three children—one of whom has just recently qualified for the 2021 National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) Youth World Championship. 

Michaela Stokes may only be 11 years old, but she has been riding horses for six years. This past year, Stokes made a name for herself by rising to the challenge of competing in two district shows in the past two months and getting first place in her class 4-D in January and second place in her 4-D class in February. Combined, Stokes has acquired enough points and will be competing in the Youth World Championship, one with thousands of riders worldwide, that will be held at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter (GNFA) in Perry from July 18-24. 

Excited for the competition at a site so close to home, Captain Stokes shared, “That’s one of the best equestrian facilities on the east coast. They do a lot. We do super shows there. They do Youth World. They do the adult NBHA World there. It’s just a phenomenal facility, so we’re blessed to be right here at it.”

According to the official National Barrel Horse Association’s website, “The NBHA is an international equine sport association whose purpose is to promote the sport of barrel racing and its growth on local, state, provincial, national and international levels.” Members of the organization can be anywhere between beginners and professionals since the NBHA uses a four- and/or five-division format for racing events. 

To further explain the 4/5-D format, the website states, “All riders, regardless of ability, run in the same barrel race. The four divisions are then determined by time brackets. With the 4-D format, the OVERALL fastest time of the race is used to set the time brackets for the four divisions.” For race competitors, every fraction of a second counts. The website further details that the first division includes the riders with the fastest times, second division has riders who ran a half second slower than the overall fastest time, third division includes those who ran a full second slower than the overall fastest time and the fourth division is for competitors who ran two seconds slower.

With over 250 competition districts across the United States and various other countries, the state of Georgia has eight districts. Stokes competes in district GA-05, which has one barrel racing audition a month. Stokes explained that there could be as many as 400 riders in a show, but the youth competition, ages 12 and under, normally has about 70 or 80 competitors in a class. 

To win first and second place in 4-D is quite a feat for an 11-year-old. A lot of training goes into bearing the fruit of such success, and Stokes has received support from her family from day one. Captain Stokes revealed that the love for horses and rodeo competitions runs in the family blood. “Michaela caught the bug because I used to bull ride back when I was young,” he said.

Loving the adrenaline rush like her father, Stokes shared that her favorite part about competing lies within the speed of the competition. “It’s fast and I’m on a horse. I like it because it gets your blood pumping,” she admitted. 

Currently, Stokes’ record time in barrel racing is 16.7 seconds. She revealed, however, that though exciting, competition day can still be very stressful. “I shake sometimes. It’s pretty nerve wracking.”

Balancing training once or twice a week, traveling for competitions almost every weekend, and school, Stokes has a very busy schedule to maintain. Fortunately, the family has a farm in Hawkinsville where practicing can be done right at home as well. Currently, the young rider has a quarter horse named Sugar that will be the one she competes in the world championship with, and a colt named Spartan, a “rambunctious” young horse that Stokes’ parents bought for her to raise. Officer Stokes shared that his youngest daughter is an aspiring vet as the family also has various other animals and looks to acquire more in the future. 

Competing at the 2021 NBHA World Championship will be a first for Stokes and will prove to be an educational opportunity for the young rider as she progresses within the sport. With her family supporting her along the way, Stokes plans to “just keep training.”

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