story by Lily Weinacht
“Barrel racing is something I’ve always liked to do, and I feel like the sport is something you can always get better at. There’s no peaking—there’s always somebody who’s going to be better than you and something you can strive to improve with,” says Jessica Green. The 21-year-old barrel racer from Greenwood, Delaware, started chasing cans in elementary school, entering NBHA and IBRA barrel races. Two years ago, she bought her WPRA card, entering her first pro rodeo on the First Frontier Circuit, and winning 2016 WPRA First Frontier Circuit Permit Champion. Having entered the Salisbury, Maryland, APRA rodeo for many years as a local, Jessica decided to officially join the APRA this season, and won the second round of the APRA rodeo in West Lampeter, Pennsylvania, last fall. “After doing the WPRA, I felt like I wanted to branch out and go with another association as well, and I thought of the APRA because it felt like a nice variety of competitors that would help push me to be better,” says Jessica. “I’ve been to a few and really loved the way they ran their shows and the way they treated the contestants and animals.”
Jessica and her dad, Jay Green, started on the barrel racing journey together and have trained four horses together and counting. He helps her critique her runs, and Jessica’s boyfriend works with her on her horses’ fitness and feeding programs. “My mom, Beth Green, is my videographer, and my boyfriend, Stanley Warrington, goes with me to every show and is also my support. We all load up and go. I love to see how my dad and I in particular have been able to take horses from essentially nothing and make something of them. I love being able to put hard work in, every night being at the barn four to five hours, and then on the weekend having a little play time and going to a show, and for the most part seeing it pay off.”
Jessica is a two-time WPRA First Frontier Circuit Finals qualifier, and says the hardest part of transitioning from barrel races to rodeos was choosing which horse to ride. “I was used to taking two to three horses, and I struggled with picking which horse for which pen, especially my first year because I hadn’t been to any of the pens.” Her old faithful is Bayou Pledge “Charlie”, a 21-year-old gelding Jessica has won seven national barrel racing titles on. She trained Charlie, along with his full nephew, Billy Dash Bayou “Prince.” “Prince has two national titles that we’ve gotten together, and he’s definitely my big pen, deep ground horse. He’s almost 17 hands and he has such a long stride it feels like we’re not even running.” The third horse she’s running is Heza Rednick Cowboy “Kyle”, an 11-year-old gelding from off the track. “He’s in the process of being seasoned, and he’s been really good at adapting and being able to run on any ground, so I’m looking forward to running him a lot.” Her dog, Scuba, a Corgi/Jack Russell mix, also travels with them to rodeos.
Between rodeos, Jessica works full time for Perdue Agribusiness as a rail fleet administrator. She’s also a full-time student, taking online classes through Wilmington University and majoring in business management. After graduating this fall, she hopes to work her way up in Perdue, and even work more closely with one of her sponsors, Blue Seal Feed.
“I’d love to make it to the APRA finals this year, as well as the WPRA Circuit Finals and Divisional Finals. Since I’m seasoning Kyle this year, it would be even more special to go and see if he can really come into his own.”
Jessica extends her thanks to her sponsors: Blue Seal Feeds, Rodeo Karma Custom Shirts, Doctor Christopher Baldt, Cokesbury Veterinary Services, and Delaware Natural Hoof Care by Dan Lynch.
