The History of Barrel Racing in Professional Rodeo

Women initially became a part of rodeo to add beauty and glamour to the male-dominated sport. But as the sport of rodeo evolved, so did the women's role, and barrel racing took off, becoming an exciting part of rodeo.

Gail Hughbanks Woerner's new book, The History of Barrel Racing in Professional Rodeo, highlights the contributions and history women have made to rodeo, from the early days when there was no standard barrel racing pattern and few standard rules to the big money and big business sport of today.

So many women and horses have played critical roles in the evolution of barrel racing and rodeo, and they are finally getting the credit and recognition they deserve. This book profiles legendary women from Margaret Owens to Hailey Kinsel and the great horses such as Charmayne James' Scamper to Kristie Peterson's Bozo.

Woerner has long been one of rodeo's foremost historians, having written hundreds of articles about the sport and books covering everything from roping to riding. Now, she has brought the history of women's barrel racing into the spotlight it deserves.

Gail Woerner was born and raised on a ranch in northeastern Colorado and worked with cattle and broke horses with her grandfather. She has written several books on the history of rodeo, a children's book on rodeo and numerous articles in various western-related magazines and periodicals including magazines in France, Canada and Australia. She also reviews other writer's books several times a year, and continually answers questions about rodeo from e-mail queries from around the globe. Gail is the Chairman of the Rodeo Clown Reunion which is held at various rodeos across the nation and generally has forty retired laugh-getters, bullfighters and barrelmen attend. They don their familiar make-up and costumes and sign autographs and entertain the fans. She also writes a newsletter to numerous retired rodeo clowns and their widows monthly.She received the Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Nonfiction for her book entitled, "Rope to Win, The History of Steer, Calf and Team Roping" in 2008. She received the American Cowboy Culture Award for Western Writing at the National Cowboy Symposium held in Lubbock, TX, in 2009. Gail lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Cliff.