story by Lily Weinacht
Jennifer Werner is competing in the APRA finals for the first time this winter, going into AFR 41 sitting 9th in the barrel racing standings. “It’s exciting, because I did have to work really hard on getting with my horse. It wasn’t an easy road, and I really had to devote a lot of time and work and effort into learning how to ride her,” says Jennifer, who hails from Ballston Spa, New York. “In the end when it pays off like this, it’s great.”
The third generation of her family to be involved in the horse world, Jennifer, 42, grew up competing in gymkhanas until she transitioned to amateur rodeos and barrel races when she was 12. By the time she turned 16, she was an APRA card holder, and loves the family connection of the association. Her daughter Eryn Cardinale competes in the APRA in breakaway roping and has qualified for the AFR several times, while Jennifer’s sister and brother-in-law, Emily and Eric Fabian, and her other sister, Sarah Arnold, also compete in the association. “We basically go together as a family, and we have all our friends there. I like the excitement of it and the thrill of running and trying to compete for the prizes. You get hooked, and once you do, it’s hard to get out of it!”
While the rest of Jennifer’s family are ropers, barrel racing has always been her event of choice. “I just like the connection that I have with the horse. I work for child protective services, so it’s kind of like therapy for me, even doing chores and cleaning stalls,” she explains. Jennifer put her competition aside for a while to raise her daughters, Eryn (18), and Abigail (9), but in 2016 after flipping a house through her part-time real estate job, Jennifer decided to use the money to purchase a horse and get back into barrel racing. She found an 8-year-old mare, Dirty Memories, whom she calls Dirty. “She’s more athletic than any horse I’ve been on, and it took me a good two years to figure out how to ride her and catch my athleticism up with hers. Over the winter, I go and take lessons with George Peters, and he showed me when your horse is really athletic where to put your body and your feet and hands.”
Jennifer and her daughters keep their horses on her parents’ farm, and much of their time between work and school is spent with the horses. “Without my mom, Cindy Kennedy, and my step-dad, Steve Arnold, I don’t think it would be possible for me and my girls to have horses—they support us with getting hay and keeping the horses at their facility. My husband, Andrew, is a senior investigator with the state police, and he financially supports us and makes sure the trucks are running good, so he’s a huge support for us too. And I also want to thank my aunt Sheila Kennedy for helping me along the way.”
Jennifer and Eryn, who is a freshman at Adirondack Community College, travel to most of the APRA rodeos together. Abigail plays on a traveling soccer team, and participates in the youth barrel racing at the Painted Pony Rodeos. “I grew up going to that rodeo. Back when I was 16, that was the first ARA rodeo I went to,” says Jennifer. “It’s so nice to see everyone on a weekly basis, and it was twice a week this year. I’m still trying to figure certain things out with my horse, and I want to start my daughter’s rope horse on the barrel pattern this winter. My goal is to keep riding consistently, or to progress and even ride Dirty better.”
