“We knew we had to win, win, win those last few weeks,” she said. Operating on adrenaline and determination, Lockhart earned checks at her final six rodeos, competing in Washington, New Mexico, Nebraska and Texas. Grady looked at his wife and told her, “The NFR is still mathematically possible.”

Grady Lockhart had joined his wife in New Mexico from the home place in Oelrichs, South Dakota, to help her the rest of the way. “Did we blow our chance?” Lockhart asked her husband Grady. Read more: Sage Newman riding PRCA record money year into National Finals Rodeo “There were a lot of overnight drives.'Īnd there it was, a barrel on its side after a run in Albuquerque, New Mexico, leaving her numb.

“We were going to about one a day,” said the Circle native of her September barrel racing schedule. With help from family and friends, Lockhart had three different horses being trailered to rodeos around the country as she pursued a 16 th consecutive qualification for the National Finals Rodeo.

Professional barrel racers