Big Money And Fast Horses With Ryann Pedone

Over the years, barrel racing has become extremely popular and has contributed to the price of equine athletes skyrocketing. Major futurity events have played a large role in this phenomenon, but has also benefited horse trainers and owners greatly.

In order to justify an equine athlete's worth, it must be able to perform, and be competitive, on a very high level. Barrel racing requires not only incredible speed, but the ability to turn each barrel tightly without losing any forward momentum. One of North Texas’ most successful futurity trainers, Ryann Pedone, shares her process of getting her horses prepared for a major futurity event.

Pedone keeps around 25-plus horses in training throughout the year, and her main focus is competing in the major futurities throughout the central United States. In order to prepare, most horses will be in training for an extended period of time before going to a competition.

“I will take a trailer load to the weekly jackpots where I will only run 2 or 3 in order to give me enough time to focus on each horse, and then I will exhibition the rest,” she explains. She will typically take 15 to 20 horses to the futurities, where there is plenty of time for her to focus on each horse between runs. They will go on to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.

While most of the futurities are run for 4 and 5-year-old horses, Pedone explains that if a horse is not ready to be ran at the age of 4 she will hold them back and start their competition year at the age of 5 when they are more mature.

Barrel horse futurities generate a lot of income for those who participate. Most states throughout the country host these lucrative events, primarily held in the late summer and fall months. They draw horses, trainers, and owners to vie for the thousands of dollars paid out to the winners.

Each event requires fees to be paid in over the early part of the horse’s life and must be maintained for the horse to be eligible to compete.  Major futurities will have 300 entries or more and can have payouts of over half a million dollars throughout the combined races. Without the major futurities, the value of these specialized equine athletes would still be where it was at years ago.