Gibsons star equestrian Sara Christmas came third out of 44 barrel racers in the B.C. Rodeo Association’s rodeo in Chilliwack last Saturday at Heritage Park.
Christmas is the top ranked barrel racer in Canada. She is nearly 2,000 points ahead of Wendy Braaten in second.
“I like the competition, you’ve got to work hard for it. It’s intense, I like the adrenaline,” Christmas said. “It’s a really cool sport, and I get to be with my horse. It’s fun.”
Christmas won the stampede warm-up race at Williams Lake last June. About 300 riders participated in the Williams Lake rodeo.
“That was my biggest achievement so far this year,” Christmas said.
Following that, Christmas came in first at the race in 100 Mile House in July.
Next on her agenda is the Slot Race in Merritt on Aug. 29. Christmas will need to buy a slot in order to compete in this race.
“I’ve been told there’s a lot of tough competition because there’s only a certain number of slots to buy,” Christmas said. “It should be a good one too.”
Christmas started barrel racing in the Ted Bowe Memorial Barrel Race on the Sunshine Coast when she was five years old. She started competing off-Coast when she was 13.
