Five-Year-Old Barrel Racer Goes Viral

Horses are in five-year-old Mckenzie Fulton’s blood. Her mother and father are both a part of the rodeo scene. Mckenzie’s dad competes in team roping, and her mother is a barrel racer too.

My dad always had horses growing up,” says Kayla Fulton, Mckenzie’s mother. “So he kind of, you know, taught me how to ride when I was very young. And I’ve kind of done it my whole life. And Mckenzie, you know, growing up she just decided that she wanted to be a barrel racer.”

Mckenzie has a passion for barrel racing you usually can’t find in someone so young. She would stay at the arena racing all night if her parents would let her. And she does it all with her teammate, or as she says her “baby,” Bandit.

Bandit and Mckenzie have only been on the barrel racing scene for a little over a year. Their talent is obvious, however, when Mckenzie ends with faster run times than girls much older than her. Her fastest time so far is 16.9 seconds.

But things haven’t always gone so well between her and Bandit.

“One time he reared up,” she says. “On number one.” As Bandit and Mckenzie approached the first barrel, something was off and he jumped up. Instead of being afraid, Mckenzie quickly corrected her horse and finished her run.

Mckenzie’s mom Kayla posted the video to her Facebook page, and was shocked when it  attracted almost 2,000 views in less than 30 minutes. Kayla received many comments from people she didn’t know, complementing her young daughter’s riding skills. Now Mckenzie and her family can’t go to a competition without meeting someone who wants to be on Team Mckenzie.

“We were actually [at a competition], and this lady said, ‘I watched your child in Greenville. I don’t have anything to do with horses. But I saw on your Facebook page where you guys were coming up here. So my family and I drove up here and made a weekend vacation, just so that we could watch your daughter,'” Kayla remembers one fan saying.

Mckenzie isn’t fazed by her Facebook fame. Her parents taught her to stay humble and focus on the sport of barrel racing. And she has one song in particular that reminds her to never give up.

“The song “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” she says. “[It’s] what teaches me not to fall off. And when I fall off, I should get back on.”

Mckenzie is now practicing and getting ready for her big appearance at the Miniature Rodeo World Tour Finals in Oklahoma City, OK in January 2017.