Mallory McLeod was likely destined to spend her life around horses.
The daughter of Vaughn Mayert grew up with horses, as the family operated a PMU farm just south of Morden, so it’s no surprise that she and her horse have received rodeo accolades.
At the Canadian Cowboys Association (CCA) rodeo finals in North Battleford, Saskatchewan last month, McLeod received a prestigious award as her horse Pearl won Barrel Racing Horse of the Year as voted on by all the other association members.
“I just love the horses and the people that you meet along the way. They kind of become family to you, and it’s just fun,” said McLeod, who now calls Morse, Saskatchewan home but still has a strong connection to Morden, where her parents still live.
Horses have always been a big part of her life.
“I’ve always been around horses and always been interested in them,” she said. “I grew up with the Winkler Trailblazers 4H and went into horse showing and then started into rodeo … I did high school rodeo in Manitoba but kind of got into it seriously when I moved to Saskatchewan.”
McLeod puts a lot of time and energy into it.
“It completely consumes my life,” she shared. “In order to compete at this level, your horses need to be in top shape, and they need to be on their game every time you go down the alley, so my horse kind of gets one or two days off a week. She gets ridden basically almost every other day.”
And it involves a number of horses, McLeod noted.
“You always need to have something new coming up in case something happens to your good one,” she said. “I’ve got some young horses coming up that I’m hoping can kind of take some of the load off Pearl. They’re actually all siblings to her, so that’s kind of special. Hopefully I can have a few of them in the trailer going down the road in the next couple of years, and I’ll just kind of see how it all plays out.”
The competition circuit can be grueling.
“We do maybe two or three a weekend … it’s every weekend from April to basically October we’re on the road,” said McLeod. “You’ve got to really love it if you’re going to do it.”
She obviously is quick to pass on the credit to Pearl for the honour.
“She’s pretty cool,” McLeod said of the 14-year-old horse. “She has the biggest heart … she’s going to do her best no matter what. She’s going to give it her all every time she goes down that alley, and you know she’s going to do the best job she can.”
McLeod hopes to still have a few more good years of competing with Pearl.
“Every horse is different … but you hope they’re still running by 18 and then it’s just kind of bonus after that … she’s stubborn enough that hopefully she’ll keep going for a while.
“She has been the biggest blessing and is the reason for all my success in the rodeo arena. She alone has qualified me for five consecutive Canadian Cowboys Association finals and makes my job easy and so much fun. I owe it all to her.”
McLeod also offered gratitude to her family for putting that passion and drive in her to love the sport and the animals.
“I thank my family for allowing me the chance to grow up with horses and giving me every opportunity to grow, learn and compete,” she said. “They taught me the value of the horse and the hard work that goes along with it and their support means the world to me.”
