Hailey Kinsel

Her mother, who has an equestrian background, is a former Miss Rodeo Texas in 1980.

Her parents own a commercial beef cattle ranch, and were instrumental in fostering her interest in rodeo and horses because they both had rodeo backgrounds.

They enabled her and her brother to compete in horse and other sports in addition to academic and livestock events.

Kinsel initially preferred to compete as a gymnast.

When she turned 11, she became more interested in barrel racing and rodeo.

At 13, Kinsel received her first dedicated barrel horse, who "couldn't be used on the ranch."

As Kinsel says, "Josey was off the track, and she was one that mom and I kind of brought along together."

Kinsel competed with Josey in junior high school and high school, but stopped when the mare became injured.

Kinsel then competed on a gelding named Thunder Stones, nicknamed TJ, throughout college rodeo.

She also had TJ when she filled her professional permit for the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA).

Kinsel and her mother bought her current barrel racing horse DM Sissy Hayday "Sister" as a filly.

Sister was one of Many Horses they bought young and trained, while they used others to fill gaps.

Sister was one they trained from the ground up.

Sister was sired by Sherry Cervi's PC Frenchman's Hayday, nicknamed Dinero.

"We bought her because we had an older half sister to her out of a Royal Shake Em mare that we just loved. We tried to find that lineage and follow that bloodline and thought, 'Well, if she's crossed with Dinero, this could be good,'" said Kinsel.

Hailey Kinsel (born October 3, 1994), also formerly known by her married name Hailey Kinsel Lockwood, is a four-time World Barrel Racing Champion.

Hailey Kinsel was born on October 3, 1994.

She grew up in Cotulla, Texas, with her parents Dan and Leslie Kinsel (née Walker).

Kinsel turned professional by joining the WPRA in 2015.

Barrel racing and breakaway roping are sanctioned by the WPRA, while other rodeo events are sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).

The barrel racing events, however, take place at PRCA rodeos, alongside men's events such as bronc riding and team roping.

All of the championship rodeo events are held together at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December.

In 2015, Kinsel finished ranked 19th in the WPRA Rookie of the Year standings with $4,880.

In 2016, Kinsel won the Elizabeth Stampede in Colorado, the Longview PRCA Rodeo in Texas, the Crockett Lions Club PRCA Rodeo in Texas, and the Hugo PRCA Rodeo in Oklahoma.

The Kinsel family bought Sister at age 2 while Kinsel was in her college freshman year; she and her mother took turns riding her.

They experienced issues training Sister, but the mare also had some natural abilities.

They waited until Sister was 5 years old to start her in futurity competition.

Kinsel jockeyed Sister to her first professional rodeo win in Elizabeth, Colorado, in 2016 and her win in Denver, Colorado, in the 2017 season.

Kinsel won a gold medal at the Days of '47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City, Utah, and won the West of the Pecos Rodeo in Texas.

She finished in second place at the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo in Amarillo, Texas, the Dinosaur Days Rodeo in Vernal, Utah, the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo in Oklahoma, and the San Patricio County PRCA Rodeo in Sinton, Texas, and tied for second place at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver.

Kinsel and her horses have qualified for the NFR six times in her years in professional rodeo, in 2017 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Kinsel has been competing in rodeo since adolescence, winning awards through high school and college in both barrel racing and breakaway roping, as well as professional rodeo.

(The exception is steer roping which has its own finals event at the National Finals Steer Roping) In July 2017 at the Days of '47 Rodeo, she cinched her first qualification to the NFR.

She won the RFD-TV's the American Rodeo in 2017, came in second in 2018, won in 2019, and again in 2021.

Her second year running barrels was 2017 and was Kinsel's first year qualifying for the NFR.

In the mare's first 14 months of competition, she won $35,000.

Other than barrel racing, she also competed at the 2017 WPRA World Finals in breakaway roping.

Kinsel won the title in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 at the National Finals Rodeo.

Her horse, Sister, won the Barrel Racing Horse of the Year Award in 2018.

She has also won the NFR Average title once in 2020.