Sand Mountain Reporter

The Cowboy Church of Marshall County held its 3rd Annual Extreme Cowboy Race Saturday.

A total of 22 adults and 10 youths registered for the event that challenged the skills of both the rider’s and their horses to work in unison.

“It is a timed event,” said event organizer Clay Lester. “The Cowboy Church doesn’t have any judges – its all about time.

“We just have timers. During the event, each rider moves his or her horse through 18 obstacles,” he said.

Obstacles included a mound of dirt, a mud hole, opening and closing a gate, putting on a raincoat, crossing a wooden bridge, backing a horse through a small pattern and a tunnel.

“They’re all designed to see how much confidence the horse has in the rider as they work as a team. Also, it exposes the horse to things he is not used to, and trust that his rider is not going to put him in a situation that is over his head,” Lester said.

“The competition was formerly broken up into male and female divisions, but the ladies can ride just as good as the men in this type competition, so there is no real advantage in breaking it up,” Lester said.

“It is all about the time you spend in the saddle working your horse.”

Competition winners included:

Adults:

1st Place: Donna Rooks of Section, won $75 with a time of 3:24.

2nd Place: Hubert Galloway of Rainsville, won $50 with a time of 3:49.

3rd Place: James Rice of Dawson, won $25 with a time of 4:01.

Youth:

1st Place: Anna Smith, 13, of Ragland, riding “Sugar” won $30 with a time of 4:00.

2nd Place: Clay Gardner, 14, of Guntersville, riding “Doc” won $20 with a time of 4:05.

3rd Place: Drew Lester, 14, of Albertville, won $10 with a time of 4:34.

All youth participants received a prize for participating.

The youngest competitor was six-year-old Joanna Hammett.

An estimated crowd of 200 people gathered to watch the competition.

The next event to be held by the Cowboy Church of Marshall County will be a team cattle sorting Dec. 12 at the Cowboy Church Park Lester said.

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Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

1603 Progress Drive
Albertville, Alabama 35950

Tel: 256-840-3000 | Email

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