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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014
PAGE 3A
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FEATURE
Student hopes for barrel racing career
HALEY FRANCIS/KANSAN
HAYLEY FRANCIS news@kansan.com
For student Margie Benjamin, happiness is leading a 1,000-pound sprinting horse around three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern, wind in her hair, cowboy boots on her feet and her dogs Louie and Mia watching nearby.
Junior Margie Benjaim rides her horse in preparation for the National Barrel Horse Association show taking place this Sunday.
She spends three hours nearly every day on her family's farm caring for her horses and training for competitive barrel races. After graduation, she hopes to go pro, competing on the championship barrel racing circuit as a member of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association.
If she wins, the payoff could be a few hundred dollars. She says her goal is to win at least $5,000 for the entire racing season, which officially starts in May.
This Sunday, Benjamin will compete at a National Barrel Horse Association show in Lawrence. As with most of her races, she'll run against other women, which is usually between 13 and 18 seconds depending on the arena.
Benjamin got her first barrel horse at age 5 and is part of a family that has trained and raced for generations.
"I was pretty much born in the saddle, since my parents put me on my first horse when I was probably six days old with my mom," Benjamin said, a junior from Overland Park.
Her mother, Dana, has been racing for over 20 years and her older sister, Caitlin, since grade school. Margie's father, Benny, participated in rodeos in college and now trains horses.
The Benjamin family was a long-time owners of a ranch in Kansas City, Mo., that became
one of the city's "most iconic landmarks," according to the Kansas City Star. The ranch, which was owned by the family for over 125 years, attracted tens of thousands of people for rodeos, picnics, weddings and other events. Even Shania Twain, when she was on tour in Kansas City a decade ago, stayed overnight at the ranch, boarded her horse and "went on a little trail ride," said Christine Faulkner Loneman, whose family has been doing business with the Benjamins' for years.
The Benjamin family sold the ranch in 2006. Today, the family keeps 19 horses at two of the three farms it currently owns in the Kansas City area.
Three of the horses belong to Margie: Vee, Bondadosa and Jetti. The youngest, Vee, is her main racing horse that she's trained for the past year. She just began working with Bondadasa, who was trained by her father and handed over to her care. Benjamin has been riding Jetti since her freshman year of college, and Benjamin's mother now competes with Jetti, as well. Each horse has a different racing style and she says Vee is her favorite to work with.
On most afternoons, Benjamin drives from campus to the farms to train and care for the horses. Along with practice and classes, she works one night a week at The Jayhawk Café.
Dana Benjamin said she admires her daughter's competitiveness, tenacity and ability to learn from her mistakes.
The training she does with the horses is mostly on her own. Benjamin has coached herself since the age of 14. Benjamin says while people are only coachable in the sport for so long, she still takes tips from competitors and family. She said she and her mother often give each other feedback.
"I was pretty much born in the saddle, since my parents put me on my first horse when I was probably six days old with my mom."
MARGIE BENJAMIN Overland Park junior
"I want her to follow her dreams and continue to work hard to achieve her goals," Dana said. "I get more excited about her running than running myself!"
Rachel Staudenmyer, a junior from Overland Park, and Benjamin's friend since kindergarten, said Benjamin is one of the liveliest people she knows, full of "endless energy." She says the combination of Benjamin's personality and work ethic makes her a strong competitor.
"She always wants to find a better way or a different way to try and improve." Staudenmyer said. "So if something isn't working, that's when she puts in extra determination to find a way that does. I think that's what makes her such a great racer."
Benjamin said she aspires to use that determination to be a certified professional bar-
racer within the next five years. She also plans to pursue a news-anchoring career after college, with hopes to work at a local news station.
"The horses are always going to be a part of my life," Benjamin said. "I see myself still balancing both."
In the meantime, Benjamin said she's happy right where she is.
"If you've ever taken one of those quizzes like 'pick your favorite scene' there's the beach, there's the mountains, there's the jungle and my favorite scene is a dirt road with wild flowers on each side and horses," Benjamin said.
Edited by Brook Barnes
HOOPS FROM PAGE 1
iPhones, but no bathrooms.
iPhones, but no bathrooms.
"It was everyone's favorite experience because you knew what you were doing was really making a difference," Loving said.
"You were really helping that community."
On the last day, the locals held a market, selling jewelry and temporary tattoos. Loving learned local dances — "a lot of snake movements, like a conga line."
Loving said that what those communities were dealing with was a lack of resources and health education. The medicine that she and the other volunteers provided was basic and important.
"You take away all the distinction, the money, all the cool technology that we have in America, and it's just you and the patient." Loving said. "That's what I believe that medicine should be. It was very raw."
Each student going on the week-long trip pays about $1,600 total for the Global Brigades program fee and airplane tickets.
This year, 50 University students will participate.
In preparation, the group is bringing in cultural speakers and taking a three-week-long medical Spanish class with a graduate teaching assistant. They recently watched a "Grey's Anatomy" episode about cultural awareness. At the last meeting before they leave, they'll test their abilities with a mock brigade, where nurses will teach students how to take vitals and two medical Spanish teachers will act as patients.
Online registration costs $10 per person. Teams will compete for a $300 firstplace cash prize.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh