article by Maesa Kummer
Painted Fling aka ‘Reese’ is a 7-yr-old sorrel gelding sired by A Streak of Fling and he and his owner/rider Tara Stimpson are the new Montana Circuit Finals Barrel Racing Average Champions and have earned a trip to the RAM National Circuit Finals in Kissimmee, FL in March.
“I bought him a year ago from Sara Cheeney and we started out together really good winning several jackpots and placing in the CSR Derby. I rodeoed on him over the summer and we didn’t have the best luck because he was going through some changes and I hadn’t really had a chance to get him completely figured out.
My main horse ended up getting hurt the week before circuit finals and so it was up to ‘Reese’ to fill in and I wasn’t sure how that would go because I knew it was a challenging arena set up. I knew if I rode him well, that we had a good chance, but I was a little surprised at how well we did!” says Tara.
Tara and Reese placed in every round, won the average and took home a saddle and $7,459.62 for their efforts.
“He stayed really consistent over 3 runs! He was so honest, and we never had a perfect run but he tried his heart out and clocked so well. He doesn’t act like a barrel horse and he handles himself really well. He knows where his feet are and takes care of himself in different types of ground conditions. He’s smart and takes care of himself and me! At the circuit finals, it might have seemed like he was getting by his second barrel but he knew he needed the room so that he wouldn’t come back over the top of it. Some people think he’s a heel horse because of his build! He’s a tank!” says Tara
Tara lives on a ranch in Lodge Grass, MT but has plans to travel south and hit some winter rodeos.
