Coulee Summer Kickoff welcomed barrel racers for the two-day event last weekend
CASEY MCCARTHY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 4 months AGO
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Coulee City welcomed barrel racers from across the region to come out for the two-day Coulee Summer Kickoff last weekend.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Jamie Harberts, on her horse, Juballea Hobby, rounds the barrel in Coulee City on Saturday at the Coulee Summer Kickoff.
Lexxie Duggan rides across the rodeo arena in Coulee City during her barrel racing run on Saturday afternoon at the Coulee Summer Kickoff.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Georgia McAuliffe makes the tight turn around the last barrel as she heads into the final stretch of her run on Saturday afternoon in the Coulee Summer Kickoff barrel racing event.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald On her horse, Kings Frechman, Janica Bills rounds the final barrel as she heads into the home stretch of her run on Saturday afternoon in the Coulee Summer Kickoff.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Aubree Skone, on her horse, Six, looks up to the announcer’s booth as she awaits her time on her barrel racing run at the Coulee Summer Kickoff Saturday afternoon.
COULEE CITY — Riders and their horses arrived in Coulee City over the weekend for the Coulee Summer Kickoff barrel racing event at Ted Rice Arena.
Hosted for the second consecutive year by Wallen Equine Services, the two-day event saw barrel racers of all ages come out to participate in the competition.
Daryll Wallen with Wallen Equine Services said this event is relatively new, but said they’ve hosted barrel races for five or six years now in different areas across the state.
“We kind of wanted to start doing this because we recently moved to Coulee City and wanted to bring some events to Coulee City because it’s such a great area, and we really wanted to do something positive for the community,” Wallen said.
Normally, Wallen said the event would fall on Father’s Day weekend, but was pushed back this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the event was well-attended last year, and felt an added importance to have something this year with so many events having already been canceled.
“I just wanted to host another event this year, especially since events have been limited through the first part of spring and early summer,” Wallen said. “I just wanted to make sure we were going to be able to offer something for contestants and members, just offer something that brought some life to Coulee City.”
Wallen said there was a long list of guidelines and restrictions they needed to make sure they were following to the best of their ability. While a few family members graced the stands over the weekend, the typical crowds of spectators were not permitted.
“We have a couple of governing associations we’re involved with, and just following the guidelines set forth by the state the best that we can enforce them,” Wallen said.
There was a warm wave of gratitude from participants who came out to Coulee City to compete over the weekend, Wallen said. The organizers received an outpouring of gratitude from riders who are thankful to have a place to compete.
“We’ve heard lots back from contestants just being extremely grateful for events to be happening at this time.”
Being able to host an event like this was important for Coulee City after a difficult spring for many local business owners, Wallen said.
“Because fishing was so delayed, the businesses didn’t get the support they were used to this spring with it all being so restricted and closed down,” Wallen said. “Having something being able to go on in Coulee City definitely helps to support those local businesses.”
