By Stephanie Hoff
In the fall, Kessa Fitzl of Loyal will start the seventh grade. By the time she gets there, she’ll have crossed off a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from her bucket list.
In July, Kessa’s family and her horse, Flirt, are heading to Perry, Georgia, for the National Barrel Horse Association Youth & Teen World Championships. There are others representing Wisconsin, but Kessa and her mom, Kaila, take some time with Mid-West Farm Report to share their excitement for the competition.
Kessa says she fell in love with competing when she started taking lessons from a friend. When mom and dad said no to buying their eight-year-old a horse, she started working to earn money to buy one herself.
“The first time I rode a horse, I really liked the teamwork and how your two minds pretty much go together,” she says. “I really like the teamwork. I liked everything about it.”
At first, she enjoyed trail riding, but then she found an affinity for speed. She started following national and local role models who specialize in barrel racing. For example, Kessa liked the story of Amberley Snyder, an American Professional rodeo cowgirl.
“She really inspired me, and then we went to the Stanley Rodeo, and we watched Kati, and I was like, yes, I want her to be like my trainer. I want this.”
Kati Haas of Hazel’s Haven Ranch in Thorp is Kessa’s coach.
“You’re basically competing with the best of the best ones you get down there, so you have to be on your A-game pretty much 24-7 to get to this point,” Haas says.
She gives us an idea of what it’s like to prepare for this event.
“A lot of it is just… getting them in sync together,” she says. “So a lot of the homework has just been: spending time with your horse, going out and riding X amount of minutes, doing certain drills, getting them both fit and ready because you literally have 16 seconds of fame… or less than that.”
