Ride slow, think fast. 

That’s the advice that Brittany Davidson, a barrel racer with 30 years of experience, always gives the girls before a race. 

The Amped Up Productions - Pro Riding Bull Tour returned to the Callaway County 4-H Center in Auxvasse last weekend. Barrel racers and bull riders alike put their athletic ability and mental toughness to the test over two nights at the 2026 Auxvasse Rodeo. Both nights featured mutton busting, followed by bull riding and ended with barrel racing. 

According to local barrel racer and Troy Rodeo Queen Peyton Schafer, barrel racing is a mental sport between you and your horse. 

Schafer is a Community R-6 graduate from Auxvasse who has only been racing for three years despite growing up riding horses. She said her cousin, a fellow barrel racer and someone Schafer always looked up to, inspired her to start competing. 

One of Schafer’s biggest challenges is confidence. 

“I struggle with confidence still today,” she said. 

Even a veteran racer like Davidson can’t argue with that. She said one of her biggest challenges is looking “chill” while a million things go through her head before every race. 

Rain in the days leading up to the rodeo made for a damp, but not muddy ring, which is ideal conditions for bulls and horses alike, but Schafer said that would be the least of her concerns. 

“Me and my horse don’t care about the dirt,” she said. “We’d rather run in a sloppy mud mess than good ground. We’ll run in anything.” 

Davidson explained that draw position is, by far, the biggest concern when it comes to barrel racing. Times can come down to hundredths of a second and horses can easily slip after tracks have been made. 

“After you get 20 horses running around that same barrel, it kicks all the dirt out,” she said. 

Schafer and her horse Maverick ran in the slack rodeo this year and took home fourth on the first night and third on the second. 

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