Memory MacDonald new cowgirl on the block
Posted By Laura Shantora Nelles, The Central Plains Herald-Leader
Posted 6 months ago
The Heartland Rodeo Association has a new junior barrel racer climbing up the standings. Long Plain First Nation resident, 11-year-old Memory MacDonald is tearing up the sport in her first year of competitive rodeo.
MacDonald is leading the youth barrels in points and prize money after some impressive performances. She picked up both second and third-best times at the St. Claude Rodeo June 6-7 with 17.474 seconds and 17.722, good for $85.50 and $57, respectively.
At the Miami Rodeo, June 27-28, MacDonald picked up $108.30 for her second-place time of 16.849. Last weekend was the Shilo Rodeo, for which results have yet to be posted on the Heartland Rodeo Association website. This coming weekend, MacDonald and her family head to Arborg.
Despite her young age, MacDonald is enjoying her budding rodeo career. "All the other kids are older, you can be in junior until you're 18, so they're all in high school."
The peppy race champ brought home first place both days she raced in Selkirk, and all three days in Portage la Prairie at the Portagex. With her wins starting to stack up, she's making quite the name for herself.
"Oh, yeah, the older girls, they see me, and they're like, 'Oh God, there's Memory,'" she said of her newfound fame.
For her first kick at the can, MacDonald says she is "surprised," with how well she's doing. "I didn't think I'd do this well."
She cites her family and friends as being her biggest supporters, who like to come cheer her on when she races. Her mom, Crystal, was the one who got her interested in the sport, and also races. Little sister, Lenna, races on a miniature pony.
The family horse farm, C&C Stables and Tack, has plenty to choose from, and MacDonald has four horses she races. "Sometimes I ride all of them, or just one. It just depends when I get there."
Sharing some horses with her mom means all four horses come to each rodeo. MacDonald often chooses a five-year-old mare, which was a race horse at Assiniboia Downs. MacDonald is not the only one who seems young. "Some of the horses I compete against are 11, 12, 13 years old, so five is pretty young."
MacDonald and her mother worked together training the horse. "She likes it," MacDonald said of her horse.
In addition to her mom and sister, MacDonald's father competes in the saddle bronc and bull riding competitions, and two brothers also tag along to cheer everyone on. Even MacDonald's grandmother is a part of the family event, making outfits for everyone to wear.
Before each race, MacDonald says she doesn't have any good luck rituals, "just make sure my horse is ready."
Entry fees for the rodeos are $20 per horse, and since the prize money she wins is "way more, like lots more than my allowance, I put the prize money in the bank to help with entry fees. And I think maybe I'd like to get a horse trailer." So far, she has collected upwards of $600 in winnings. "I won a saddle, too," she added.
Now that school's out, MacDonald has plenty of time to train, which she does every day. During school, she finishes her homework at school or on the way home to free up time for training.
"We have a big arena, so I practise every day. I race my mom and my sister," she said, proudly adding she has been getting better times than her mom.
Her eventual goal is to "make it to the Calgary Stampede. I would walk miles and miles to get to the Calgary Stampede." For now, MacDonald says she is trying to "finish the best I can .... And teach my new horse to run faster than my other one."
Mom Crystal has been working with her daughter for the last few years says she has been teaching Memory her tricks, "But maybe I should stop, because now she's beating my times."
Crystal said she is pleasantly surprised with her daughter's progress this year. "I thought the excitement would get to her, and that she wouldn't be able to keep her cool. I'm really surprised. The other kids are a lot more experienced, a lot of them can drive a car, but now she's got confidence."
sports@cpheraldleader.com
