PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Holland born to barrel race

There’s not much need for Tara Holland to buy saddles because she keeps winning them. She’s also been collecting belt buckles and cash.

The daughter of Vicki Holland and Bob Holland, she’s spent far more of her life on a horse than off.

“My mom rode pregnant with me,” said Holland, who will be a junior in the fall at Columbus Unified High School. “My whole family rides.”

That includes both parents and older sisters Shelly Gross and Whitnie Holland.

A barrel racer, Holland placed first in Missouri state finals held June 14-17 at Columbia, Mo., which earned her a position on the Missouri State High School Rodeo team.

“You had to be in the top four, and I was No. 1,” Holland said.

The team will compete July 14-21 at the 64th annual National High School Finals Rodeo, to be held at Rock Springs, Wyo. The event is the largest rodeo in the world, and will draw more than 1,500 contestants from 41 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia.

They will be competing for more than $200,000 in prizes and more than $350,000 in college scholarships.

Holland will be competing on Chigger, a horse trained by her mother.

“Chigger used to be a race horse,” she said. “His mother died when he was born so he was bottle fed. He’s quite a character. He can open his stall and unhook gates.”

Holland added that her mother and Chigger have a tight bond.

“I’m just the one who gets on him and rides him,” she said. “Chigger gets extremely nervous when he’s ready to run if Mom isn’t there. She just talks to him and tells him that he needs to calm down, and he does.”

Nerves or not, Chigger is a talented horse who does well with Holland.

“I’ve won four saddles with Chigger, and won seven saddles total,” she said.

Holland has fond memories of all her past horses, starting with the first, Old Yeller.

“He was my grandpa’s horse and everybody rode him,” she said. “Grandpa and Dad roped on Old Yeller.”

Then there was Pepper, a devoted companion of Old Yeller.

“I won my first saddle when I was 7 on Pepper,” Holland said. “I won two saddles with her.”

There was also Bo, who was actually better at poles than barrels.

She has another horse, Blue, currently sidelined a bit with leg issues. She hopes to get in more riding with Blue.

But right now Holland is preparing for Wyoming, and there is an issue. She does better racing barrels indoors than outdoors, explaining that outdoors a horse can look out at the distance and become distracted. Indoors, the horse tends to focus more on the barrels.

“In Wyoming there are huge arenas and they’re all outdoors,” Holland said. “Chigger gets a week off, then we’re going to big outdoor arenas to practice and get him used to being outdoors again. He’s been indoors his last 10 runs.”

Her mother is a nurse, and Holland’s future plans also tend toward the medical field.

“I’m thinking about being a physical therapist,” she said. “I really wanted to be a veterinarian, but that’s a lot of school.”