FEATURE
WAY OF LIFE
RODEO IS IN THE BLOOD OF THE BARNETT FAMILY
by Erik Hackman photos submitted
Since he was 5 years old , Correy Barnett has been around horses .
Growing up , his father was a farrier , a blacksmith who makes horse shoes . Barnett would follow his dad around and ride horses with him .
Starting out by riding on trails with his dad , he was eventually introduced to team roping as well . His father was also a team roper .
At 13 , Barnett started swinging a rope with a dummy and was introduced to Nat Stewart who owns Yankeetown Arena .
“ I spent about two weeks with him , just learning how to rope better and started riding horses ,” Barnett said .
After that , he went to Sturgis , Kentucky to learn more about riding and roping from some people there .
During high school he went back to Stewart and started training horses for him at Yankeetown .
“ We ’ d break them to ride , break them to rope ,” Barnett said . “ I started getting into the roping and stuff pretty heavy and started competing in the rodeo world .”
He was going to amateur rodeos and team roping with people from all over the country . After a while , he moved on to competing in pro rodeos in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association .
In the PRCA he traveled from New York to Texas
PAGE NO . 12 NEWS AND TRIBUNE SPORTS MAGAZINE MAR / APR 24