Greene County native barreling his way to the top
Chad Walker
Chad Walker rounds a barrel at the Panty Raid in Springfield, Ohio.
Chad Walker after his fourth-place finish at the Panty Raid in Springfield, Ohio
Barrel racer Chad Walker of Graysville
Chad Walker, 38, is living out a dream 30 years in the making.
The West Greene High School graduate started riding horses when he was still in diapers. By the time he hit second grade, the Graysville native was racing them around barrels that he’d set up in his backyard.
But that was as far as he got with barrel racing – until March 2012 when he gave up raising cattle to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a barrel racer. In just two years, Walker has reached the top 10 in the world for his age bracket in the sport.
“I had no idea what I was doing back then. I would just set the barrels up and go,” Walker said.
What he did know about the sport at the time was its widespread acceptance of women. If you weren’t born female, you weren’t accepted in barrel racing, he said. Still, Walker loved the thrill he got racing around those barrels.
Barrel racing isn’t a sport for the faint of heart. Two weeks ago, Walker’s foot got hung up in a stirrup, and he was thrown off his horse. He takes such things in stride.
Longtime friend Mary Jane Kent of Wind Ridge said that is because Walker is “a true cowboy. … He’s the real deal.”
When he decided to pursue his childhood dream, Walker pursued it following the code by which he lives his life.
“I’ve never been one to sit back and wait for something to come to me. Once I have got something in my mind to do, I am full throttle,” he said. “It (barrel racing) is dangerous. The biggest part is the rush, the rush and the bond you build up with your horse.”
On a horse borrowed from a friend, Jerilyn McNeely of Carmichaels, who is a racer in her own right, and the help of renowned trainer Adam Guiste, Walker qualified in his first year for the International Barrel Racing Association Nationals in Lousiville, Ky.
“It was a dream come true,” he said.
Although the sport has come a long way, male racers are still fighting for their place, Walker said. The barrel-racing circuit that pays the most money for wins and carries the largest number of endorsements per rider is the Women’s Professional Riders Association.
The former model races in the American Professional Rodeo Association circuit. “Anybody can qualify for it, and anybody can run in it,” he said.
“There are a lot of men out there getting endorsement deals. I know that it’s out there, and I want to go after it. The rodeo girls are endorsing boots, jeans and trailer companies,” Walker said. He hopes he also can grab some of those backers as he moves through the ranks.
Now in the works, he said, is a new horse, Junipers First Reward, which is in Oklahoma strarting to be trained by Kendal Owen.
“Adam will take over the training program once we bring him here, and I’ll break him out in 2015,” Walker said.
Among the races in which Walker has participated are futurity races, open races and jackpot races. At the “Panty Raid,” the biggest race on the East Coast, Walker took fourth in his division. The Panty Raid draws roughly 600 participants from 17 states to Springfield, Ohio, each year.
Typically, futurity races are open to 3- and 4-year-old horses that have never entered a barrel race before their third or fourth year. Some races hold a special juvenile division for 3-year-olds and a main futurity event for 4- and 5-year-olds. However, futurity races are “few and far between on the East Coast,” so that means a lot of traveling for the cowboy.
With his current ranking, Walker has qualified for the American Quarter Horse Association’s World Show in Oklahoma City, Okla., in November. It will mean much more time on the road as he hits races along the way, but he said he doesn’t mind.
“When I was growing up, I always wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be famous,” he said.
In many ways, that goal remains the same. All of his hard work is geared toward one day being listed among the all-time best barrel racers.