Mary Walker

Mary Walker (born January 26, 1959) is an American former professional rodeo cowgirl who specialized in barrel racing. She won the Women's Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing world championship in 2012. Despite several traumatic events in the two preceding years, she persevered. She also became the oldest woman, at 53, in rodeo to win a world championship in the barrel racing event at the National Finals Rodeo. She was later surpassed by Mary Burger in 2016 when Burger won at age 68. She lost her only child to a car accident in 2011. Two months later, Latte, her horse, fell on her during competition and severely injured her. It was about a year and a half after these incidents that she won her world title. Walker was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2013.

Personal life Walker was born in Ennis, Texas, on January 26, 1959. She grew up riding horses, and started barrel racing as a youth. According to Walker, she had a positive childhood although her father died when she was 19. Deciding against attending college, she got a job and worked the rodeos on the weekends. In 1983, she married Byron Walker, who became an elite rodeo performer. They resided in Ennis but now live in Abilene, Texas. Byron is the 1981 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Steer Wrestling Champion, and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) 16 times.

Walker's favorite pastimes include deep sea fishing and mowing the lawn. She also has a dog, Buster, who goes everywhere with her. Walker and her husband had one child, their son, Reagon. Reagon became a professional steer wrestler, with a promising future. On April 23, 2011, Reagon and his girlfriend were involved in a car accident, where he died due to his injuries. Two months later, in a competition in Crosby, Texas, while running around the third barrel, Latte slid and fell on Walker. The horse was fine, but Walker suffered a shattered pelvis, multiple breaks in her hip, two broken vertebrae, and two broken toes. She underwent surgery the next day, and the doctors used 8 plates and 11 pins to secure her hip. "I was four months in a wheelchair, three months in physical therapy. I went from the wheelchair to a walker, then to a crutch, then to a cane." Walker eventually returned to horse riding, but lost a lot of rodeos until she regained trust in herself and Latte. Byron would tell her that she was going to win the championship that year, which she eventually did.

Although 1983 was her first year as a professional barrel racer, she almost qualified for the NFR, missing by only $2,000. She did well in part because she used her high school rodeo horse, Jet Barb. After that year, however, she sold her horse and for a number of years her rodeo activity was primarily supporting the rodeo careers of her husband Byron, and later their son, Reagon. Nevertheless, she still purchased her WPRA card every year, even though Byron was sure she would not use it. But Walker would say, "You never know." Walker occasionally competed at the nearby Mesquite Championship Rodeo in her spare time for extra money. Her husband reached elite levels in rodeo, and her son seem fated to follow.

She finally qualified and competed at her first NFR in 2012, when she was 53. Thereafter, she qualified for the NFR 5 times, from 2012 through 2016. She also qualified for the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo (RNCFR) in the Prairie Circuit one time in 2015. In the final round, she won the event with a record-setting 15.72 second run which, as of 2018, is still in the record books.

Season 2012 Walker went to Guymon, Oklahoma, to compete and won the average there. She kept going to rodeos and moving up the standings. Then, in July, she did something her husband never managed: she won at Cheyenne Frontier Days. She won the first round by a less than a second. Then she won the final round, despite the fact that Latte almost knocked down the second barrel. With her win at Cheyenne Frontier Days, she added $16,185 to her season winnings.

Walker went into the NFR with $93,000 in season earnings, which was $43,000 behind the leader. She was ranked 3rd in the World Standings for the season. Over the 10-day finals, which features the top 15 barrel racers, she won four rounds. Walker and Latte swept the NFR to win her first and only World Barrel Racing Championship. Walker set a new earnings record for the NFR of $146,941.10. Walker also won the RAM Truck Top Gun Award for the highest earnings in a single event at the NFR. She also won the Jerry Ann Best Dressed Cowgirl Award. Walker placed 6th in the Finals and earned $2,944.71. Through the 10th Round, Walker placed second in the NFR Average and clocked a total 143.52/10 for an aggregate of $37,986.78. In the WPRA World Standings, she finished the year out in first place with total year earnings of $274,233.28. She won nearly $70,000 more than the second-place WPRA finisher Carlee Pierce of Stephenville, Texas.

Season 2014 On March 18, the Rodeo Roundup reported that Walker announced she is being forced to auction off her horse Latte due to a court order. To summarize, when the Walkers bought Latte in 2011, they purchased 90 percent while Cheri Cogburn retained 10 percent, and they formed an LLC, the purpose of which was so Walker would never have to sell him. However, Cogburn decided to sue for partition of sale for her 10%. Her last offer of $250,000 for settlement left no choice as the Walkers could not meet that. Since Latte is the only asset of the LLC, Walker must auction him to get Cogburn her settlement. They held the auction for Latte in November in Justin, Texas, at the Waxahachie Rodeo Complex. Mark Wallace, the owner of the Justin Discount Boots stores, purchased Latte for $850,000, and said Walker can continue riding him. "The bottom line is a friend of mine bought Latte and turned around and said, ‘Mary, you will ride him forever,’ " Byron Walker said. She placed eighth in the Semi-Finals. She also was awarded a Wild Card win on Super Sunday and came in second place to Mary Burger.

Her results for all rounds of the rodeo were: Round 1 first place, 14.29 seconds, $3,000 Round 2 first place, 14.25 seconds, $3,000 Round 3 first place, 14.08 seconds, $3,000 Total $9,000 advances to SemiFinals Source

On Sunday, July 17, when Walker competed in the Showdown Sunday at Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she finished second place by less than 1 second to first-place winner Mary Burger. Her paycheck for $25,000 brought her into the limited company of women who won $1 million in lifetime rodeo earnings. She became the 7th woman to have done so. This record made both her and husband million dollar rodeo winners. Walker gave a lot of the credit to her horse, Latte.

During the last week of August, Pueblo, Colorado, holds the Colorado State Fair. One of the events is a four-day PRCA rodeo. In 2014, the rodeo joined the Champions Challenge tour, and more of rodeo's best performers added southern Colorado to their schedules. In 2016, Walker competed there in the Champions Challenge for the first time since she had been there in the 1980s. She had the last run in the fourth performance on a Monday night, and Latte made the run in 17.26 seconds. The competitors who attempted to beat her time on Tuesday night did not come close, and thus Walker was named the winner, so she won $2,942 for the event. After having Wednesday night off, 11 women, counting Walker, went on to the 8th stop of the Champions Challenge, also in Pueblo. That night, she made a mistake on Latte and took a penalty, ending her competition at the event.

Walker decided to head back north after the Fair rather than to hit rodeos in nearby Texas. Walker had the All American ProRodeo Series on her mind. To qualify for the Finals, which are held annually in Waco, Texas, competitors must compete in a minimum of 30 rodeos. Last year she failed to get in the required number of rodeos. Walker had also been competing on the Montana circuit that year. She went on to place at Cody, Wyoming, win at Dillon, Montana, and other rodeos and earned herself spot in the series.

In May during the last weekend, Walker started her circuit season. She won at Grassy Butte, North Dakota; she also won at Kalispell, Bell, and Dillon, Montana. Then she went from one end of Montana to the next and won $4,750 at Baker, in the far eastern end of the state, then in Kalispell, in the far northwest. By the end of summer she had won another $3,116 at Plains and Dillon during Labor Day weekend. She reached her goal by entering 17 rodeos in the circuit; the requirement was 15.

Other winnings included the Lewiston Roundup in Idaho, Montana's Biggest Weekend, Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo, Canyonlands Rodeo in Utah, Spanish Fork, Utah, 56th Belt in Montana, Maah Daah Hey Stampede in North Dakota, and La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Arizona, the Final Round. She finished 4th in the average at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, and won the Champions Challenge in Florida on Bojangles.

Career summary In 2016, Walker became the WPRA's 7th millionaire.

Competition horses

Perculatin, nicknamed Latte, a bay gelding foaled in 2000 and still competing in 2013. Latte has notable Quarter Horse lineage. He was sired by Dash for Perks, and out of Curiosity Corners. Dash for Perks was sired by Dash For Cash, who was sired by Rocket Wrangler. Dash for Perks dam was Perks who was sired by Easy Jet. Perculatin was the AQHA/WPRA Barrel Racing Horse of the Year in 2012. A Frosty Please, nicknamed "Bojangles", was foaled in 2010 and Walker began using him in competition in 2016. He was sired by Bug in My Frosty out of Dash to Please. 2012 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award at the NFR. 2013 Tad Lucas Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. 2013 National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.