At Royal Winter Fair Norval rider hopes to keep on a `Roll'

Like most competitors in the rough-and-tumble sport of rodeo barrel racing, Norval resident Sue Collier just loves the part when the organizers hand out the prize cheques after a rewarding day of racing. And the 53-year-old Collier feels she's got a horse she can bank on to allow her to frequently be on the receiving end of those payouts. The rider-and-horse tandem of Collier and Roll out the Money have had a successful 2006 campaign, traveling to several rodeos around Ontario on three different circuits. At the recent Dodge Finals at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Collier and `Rollie,' a quarterhorse, recorded the fastest race time of the weekend at 14.1 seconds, which qualified them for the prestigious Royal Agricultural Winter Fair competition this Sunday at Exhibition Place in Toronto. "When they first put the rodeo on at the Royal, it was the first Sunday they ever sold out," noted Collier. "It's become a big draw for that show. The Royal is a great and wonderful event and it's very prestigious. But year after year they had the same things and this has been a nice change." Ladies' barrel racing was only recently incorporated into the Royal, and this year's format will be an East versus West Canadian challenge, with four representatives on each team. How honoured is Collier to compete this Sunday? As a youth, she rode English horses, winning a class at the Royal during the 1960s, and has attended as an envious spectator many times. A scheduling conflict with this week's National Barrel Horse Association World Championships at Augusta, Ga. caused Collier some inconvenience, but in the end there wasn't much of a decision to be made. The finals of the NBHA event are slated for Saturday night, making it impossible for her to make the 15-hour drive back in time for the Royal races Sunday morning. So, even though Roll out the Money placed third out of 302 competitors this week, with Collier's upand-coming horse, four-year-old QT Poco Vittoro, also qualified for Saturday's final in Georgia, she will scratch both in order to return to Ontario in time for the Royal. "It takes a special horse to do well in rodeo and they take a lot of miles to get used to it, but I think I've got enough horse in Rollie that we'll do well. She's got a huge heart," Collier said. "Rodeo is a difficult environment. There are bulls, calves, loud music, flags and bannersit's not like a regular horse show. There is so much going on and a lot of horses can't handle it mentally and they won't perform." Not many equine-related events offer prize money, especially at the grassroots levels, but the demands of barrel racing require a breed of horse that won't be confused with those in say, and tolerate the change in dressage. After a running start, ground," added the Manitoba racers must navigate through native. three barrels in a cloverleaf pat"The reason I love barrel ractern and can reach speeds of up to ing is because it's you and the 60 km/h between the obstacles, horse, it's a timed event and with a five-second penalty given there's nobody's opinion involved, for overturning a barrel. whereas most other horse-related "It's like any race, except the sports don't tend to be the fairest. horse has a lot of torque working It's an adrenaline rush and there's on their legs around those barrels nothing like it. I guess it's like and if the ground isn't right or if going over a six-foot fence when it rained the night before, bad you're jumping a horse." (Eamonn Maher can be reached at emaher@independentfreepress.com)

things can happen and you hope you have a horse that can stand

Sue Collier and her horse Roll out the Money will be in Toronto this Sunday for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Photo by Eamonn Maher

Sue Collier of Halton Hills and her horse Roll out the Money competed in several rodeo barrel racing events this year in Canada and the U.S. with much success, including this one in Ohio. They'll be in Toronto this Sunday for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Submitted photo