Local barrel horse racer Chelsea Brinson recently returned from a super show in Perry where she won her biggest prize to date.

Brinson started barrel horse racing when she was 12, but didn’t race competitively until the past three years. She said when she was a kid, she just wanted to do it for fun and she still does it for fun, but now she has more time to dedicate to training for the events.

The event Brinson competed at was one of the largest she had ever been to. She said she usually competes at local shows that house 50-100 people, but this show hosted approximately 600. Brinson originally was unsure she even wanted to compete in a show this large.

Her mare, Toph was young and Brinson wasn’t sure how she would handle a show of this caliber. She said she tried to talk herself out of it, telling herself “you could spend all this money and not even come home with anything.” In the end, she eventually said she might as well go because she would be mad if she didn’t.

She arrived in Perry on July 7 and waited for her turn to run with Toph. This was one of the farther shows they had traveled to, so the energy had been building for quite a while.

Brinson and Toph were waiting in line, when the announcer told the remaining 20 competitors who was in first place in Division four, but he promised them it could change any minute.

After Brinson’s performance, she said felt confident about their chances.

“I was definitely excited,” she said. “I knew our run was good.”

Brinson was right; their run was good. In fact, it was the best of the day. The announcer told viewers there was a new first place performer in Division Four. Brinson hoped it wouldn’t change again and that she would take home the victory.

She took home more than a victory; she received a check for $2,098 and a feature in BarrelHorse News.

“It was such a surprise,” Brinson said. “I didn’t think there was no chance, I just was nervous about Toph.”

With this win under her belt, Brinson is ready to compete in more super shows. She is planning on attending her next show in November. It will be held in Jacksonville, Florida.

Brinson encourages anyone who has an interest to get involved in the sport. She knows there aren’t many local rodeos, but the best thing to do is start watching others and learn from them.

Brinson attributes her success to learning about horses at a young age. She met a family from Pelham who taught her what they knew, and her boyfriend’s family built upon that foundation to help her gain more barrel horse racing knowledge.

She hopes to continue to put her knowledge to good use in her remaining shows of the season.