The need for speed

Jan 28, 2024

St. Clair Times editor

Avery Stephens of Odenville started riding horses when she was just 4-years-old.

ODENVILLE – Avery Stephens might seem like most other 12-year-old girls, but that’s until she gets around the likes of Blazey, Spicy and let’s don’t forget Geaux Guy Geaux, a.k.a. “Big Guy.”

When that happens, the youngster turns into a speeding bullet, competing against the young, the old, and the clock in barrel racing competitions across the southeast.

“I guess I like the speed,” said the Odenville Middle School student.

Her mother, Stephanie, said Avery’s infatuation with horses and riding came early, when her daughter was only 4-years-old.

She said Avery rode a guided pony named Pinky during a festival held at Homestead Hollow.

That was all it took.

Her daughter wanted to learn how to “really” ride a horse, and by the time the youngster was seven, she was competing in barrel races.

Stephanie said her daughter’s trainer, Rachel Watts, continues to work with Avery as she adds to her skills and collects more winning ribbons, trophies, buckles – and even money.

Avery sat next to a shadow box filled with metal buckles that she had won in various barrel racing events. In other areas of her room are collections of ribbons and trophies, all testaments to her efforts.

Avery wears a beautiful shiny buckle she won in the “Open Division” only a few months ago in her home stadium, the St. Clair County Arena in Odenville.

She explains there are Youth and Open divisions in her events, and she competes in both.

And that means Avery competes against riders, both men and women, who are sometimes five-times older than herself.

Avery recalls the first time she competed in a barrel race in 2017. It was at the St. Clair County Arena in Odenville.

“I was scared to death,” she said.

She now has hundreds of races under her belt, and she currently competes in National Barrel Horse Association sanctioned events, and Above Barrels Association events. She also competes in other barrel racing events and rodeos, mostly in Alabama, but she has competed in races in Georgia and Mississippi.

Avery recently won a chunk of money at the NBHA Worlds Championship, held in Perry, Ga. It was the largest amount of money she has won racing, a whopping $1,915.

Much of the money she wins is used to buy equipment and to help pay for entry fees in other barrel racing competitions.

“She pays half her fees,” her mother said.

Her father, Daniel, also invested in a new horse trailer with a front sleeping compartment, so the family has a place to sleep when they attend barrel racing events.

Avery said the recent purchase of her new horse, Spicy, about one year ago, has helped stepped up her game in barrel racing. The mare is extremely fast, she said.

“Spicy is all go, and very smart,” she said. “And we’re starting to click.”

Avery said Spicy knows her job and does it well.

She also continues to race with Big Guy and Blazey. Generally, all three horses compete at shows Avery attends, which is almost a weekly weekend outing for the family.

Avery said Blazey is 17-years-old and was sort of put out to pasture, but the aging all-around competition horse can still hold her own in the arena.

She said Blazey is really good at pole bending competitions.

Avery said she prefers competing in events with only barrel racing competitions, although she also competes in rodeos.

“There’s just too much going on (in rodeos),” Avery said.

So what is Avery’s goal as a competitive barrel racing rider?

“I would like to compete in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas,” Avery said.

And maybe one day soon, the talented young barrel racer will make that long journey out west with her family, perhaps adding to her collection of buckles.

St. Clair Times editor