Riding a horse requires bravery, profound practice, and commitment. Unlike common household pets, such as cats and dogs, horses are wild animals that must be tamed to become domesticated. A horse’s stature and towering size creates an element of danger. Consequently when lacking an understanding of a horse’s behavior the rider becomes endangered to countless serious injuries and accidents that could occur if someone is inexperienced. To be a successful barrel racer an individual needs to focus on one very important element: communication. Between the rider and the horse, communication is like a third language called an “embodied language system” meaning the “language of touch”. Haley Affolter, a passionate sophomore, is the perfect example of what an amazing barrel racer looks like taking sports to a whole new level.  Through her journey of competing in barrel racing, Haley has discovered the art of patience and trust.

Her journey started when she was only seven years old. With the influence and support of her mom, she took hold of the reigns courageously. Her mom taught her how to ride and has taken Haley to compete around Minnesota. Texas and Oklahoma are a couple of states that she has recently traveled to for barrel racing. Haley says that she’s very competitive in the sport, she definitely plans on doing it in the future, and along the way she’s making her own memories. “My mom and I were on our way to a show in Texas and blew three tires on the way and we had to call triple A since we didn’t know how to change them” she says. “It took us a day longer than we needed to get there, but that was funny.” Haley’s competitions consist of racing individuals from other states and to eventually qualify for bigger races. Haley is spurring into her dreams of competing in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), and is eager to keep growing in order to attain her goal.