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June 1, 2009

Lone Star Rodeo

Local woman competes in Lone Star Rodeo’s Corbin event

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Not all the cowgirls with the Lone Star Rodeo Company came from Texas, as the name might suggest  — a few, like Jennifer Butcher, were from right here in the Tri-County.

Butcher, a barrel racer from Flat Lick, was one of a handful of local riders who competed in the Lone Star Rodeo’s two-day appearance at The Arena in Corbin this weekend.

Butcher’s been riding for nearly 40 years, since she was a little girl.

“I grew up in Red Gate Horse Center in Maynardville, Tenn. My father actually worked for the people who owned it... so I grew up with horses, and it’s my passion, and I’ve barrel raced for, well, 38 years,” she said.

Barrel racing is traditionally a women’s rodeo sport in which competitors race in a clover-leaf pattern around three barrels on the arena floor. Right now, Butcher and her horse Bully’s Moon Racer are standing fourth in the world among barrel racers in the International Professional Rodeo Association, the second-largest rodeo association in the world.

Her best time in competition is 11 seconds, she said, from a rodeo in Tennessee.

Butcher and her husband have lived in Flat Lick since 1991, and have about 33 acres where they keep several horses. Barrel racing is almost a full-time job for Butcher — she travels nearly every weekend, even in the winter months, and said she drives more than 40,000 miles a year for the sport.

Having a rodeo in Corbin this weekend was a welcome change from the travel, Butcher said. She’s worked with Lone Star Rodeo Company before; several years ago, the company hosted two rodeos in Barbourville. Though the rodeo company started in Texas 60 years ago, today the family-owned business is based in Crofton, Ky.

Kentucky is horse country — but it’s mostly known for thoroughbreds, not quarter horses. Butcher said she hopes to change that by introducing more area people to the thrills of the rodeo.

“We’re excited that this is here in Corbin and we hope that there’s plenty more,” Butcher said of the Lone Star Rodeo. “We hope we can actually help put on some events here for our community.”

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