‘I like to go fast’: Anchorage barrel racers cheer on the next generation

Tonya Brewer squared her body, kept her eyes locked on her next target and slowed her galloping palomino, Jolene, with a “whoa” around the first barrel.

Fellow competitors whooped and hollered from behind the rusting blue gate surrounding the South Anchorage rodeo arena as Brewer maneuvered Jolene around two more barrels in the shape of a clover, completing the pattern in 15.6 seconds — the winning time for the first race.

“I like to go fast,” Brewer said afterward, her blonde hair that was just animated by speed now motionless. That’s something she and everyone else in her 60-person racing group seem to have in common: a love for speed, and a desire to celebrate it.

Since 2011, a growing team of mostly women and girls have competed in weekly barrel racing and pole bending competitions from May through September as the 907 Barrel Racers. In barrel racing, riders race around three barrels, whereas in pole bending riders weave between six vertical poles.

They ride in Anchorage, at the William Clark Chamberlin Equestrian Center off Abbott Road, and also in Palmer and Wasilla. The youngest riders are 9 years old; the oldest is 67.

On the final day of summer, as the moon still hung in the late-morning sky, the group competed for the last time in a members-only race under the name they’ve worn for more than a decade. Brewer and the five-person volunteer board that collects membership dues and organizes each event will be retiring, handing off the organization to some of its current members to reorganize as the Midnight Sun Barrel Racers.

“Wave goodbye to 907,” an announcer said as 45 riders lined up for a photo, Brewer’s dog Prada darting between hooves. The air smelled of horse manure.

Although the group’s name and leadership are changing, members say its makeup and mission are mostly remaining the same.

An Alaska tradition

Rodeo is nothing new to Alaska. The Central Peninsula Rodeo, originally held in Happy Valley, then moved to Ninilchik, has been around since 1960. Professional rodeos consist of eight events in two categories: roughstock events — where competitors must ride a bucking bull or horse for 8 seconds — and timed events, which include barrel racing. Barrel racing got its start as a women’s-only event, and although men can now compete, women still dominate.

Many of the 907 Barrel Racers grew up competing in rodeos across the state.

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Jamie Ramirez rides Cougar at the end of her barrel race at the William Chamberlin Equestrian Center in Ruth Arcand Park, Sept. 21, 2024. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Tammy Sunderland of Palmer was raised in rodeo. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, rodeo was a different-looking scene, but it was still a really big one,” said Sunderland, whose grandfather played a part in establishing informal rodeo events in Alaska at ranches across the Valley in the 1930s.

For one, the sport lacked formal organization, and was done with work horses on the weekends after harvest, she said. Now, Sunderland and her husband, Roy Linkenhoker, own an equine transport company and haul horses to Alaska through Canada from the Lower 48.

They also help train the racers: Sunderland and Linkenhoker own Our Little Farm in Palmer and are bringing up the next generation of barrel racers. Every week, they haul anywhere from a dozen to two dozen kids and their horses from the Valley to compete in Anchorage. Beginning this spring, they’re taking over organizing for 907 Barrel Racers, renamed Midnight Sun Barrel Racers, in part because their youth riders account for a growing percentage of membership.

Moving forward, Sunderland said, she and the incoming board will continue to foster inclusivity in the sport by “offer(ing) something that beginners can come into and have a chance at competitively winning, just as those that are seasoned equestrians can.”

Barrel racing is often scored into four divisions: The fastest racer sets the first division, and the subsequent divisions are half-second additions to the time before them.

As a result, Sunderland says, “beginners can be winners, and for camaraderie and sportsmanship, you can’t beat it.”

‘Melt into that saddle’

Racers say they thrive on the encouragement of their fellow riders.

Before the newer racers entered the arena, Linkenhoker pulled them aside to relax both the racers and the horses with a single word. “Breathe,” he told the girls. “Melt into that saddle. Let your tension go away.”

Madison Fleming has been barrel racing since she was 10 years old as a student at Sunderland’s farm. At 13, the sport takes up much of her life. She tries to ride six days a week and loves the specific adrenaline she gets when she’s “coming off the barrel” and then, especially, when she and her horse are sprinting toward the finish.

“Everybody is so supportive,” Fleming said of the group. “If you’re having a hard time getting a horse in the arena, or if you’ve had a bad run, they’re always telling you ‘good job’ and even sometimes giving you tips and pointers. It really picks you up.”

By the time Fleming and her horse, Brodie, were competing on Saturday, 28 riders had gone before her. Still, the constant cheering from outside the arena did not waver and even drowned out the country music soundtrack during particularly riveting races. Fellow racers bellowed Fleming’s name, reminded her to “use (her) feet,” and recorded iPhone videos of her race from their own horses on the sidelines.

“She’s dynamite,” said Ranee Privasky, the outgoing board president of 907 Barrel Racers who will be joining Midnight Suns as a racer come May. “She’s one of our up-and-coming badasses.”