Mary Burger

Mary Burger (born August 18, 1948) is an American professional rodeo cowgirl who specializes in barrel racing.

Mary Burger was born Mary Lichtle in Decatur, Indiana, on August 18, 1948.

Burger is one of three girls and three boys born to the Lichtles.

She grew up riding horses.

As a young girl, she was diagnosed with Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a rare childhood hip disorder.

Her condition made walking difficult.

As a result, her father bought her a pony, and she took to riding agilely.

She attended every 4-H horse show near her home that she could.

After she outgrew 4-H shows, she competed in American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) shows.

She mastered this sport, winning 9 championships.

During this time, she met and married her husband Kerry Burger, an esteemed farrier.

They have two sons, Todd and Joey.

She broke the existing record set by Ike Rude of 59 years old in steer roping set back in 1953.

As an amateur, Burger competed in the AQHA in barrel racing, and won world championships in 1974, 1985, 1986, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005.

She also competed in pole bending, and won one world championship title in 1974.

In the 1980s, the family moved to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.

Through training horses, she encountered some winners on the futurity horse race circuit.

Soon, she was competing in amateur rodeos.

She first started competing professionally in barrel racing in 1984.

Burger turned professional by joining the WPRA in 1985.

Barrel racing is sanctioned by the WPRA, while other rodeo events are sanctioned by the PRCA.

The barrel racing events, however, take place at PRCA rodeos, alongside events such as bull riding and tie-down roping.

All of the championship rodeo events are held together except steer roping which has its own finals event, the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR), at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in December.

Although Burger turned professional in 1985, she only went to rodeos in her local area until the early 2000s.

In fact, in 1987, she won her regional National Circuit Finals Rodeo (NCFR) and became the Prairie Circuit Finals champion.

Burger went to quite a few rodeos in 2004 and 2005, but only regional ones.

She has won two Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) barrel racing world championships in 2006 and 2016.

It was in the year 2006 when she expanded out to rodeos throughout the country.

She won her first world championship title that year.

She achieved this after placing in 9 of 10 rounds at the NFR.

Her third qualification to the NFR brought Burger her first barrel racing world championship.

She and her horse, Fred, placed in nine out of ten rounds.

She finished the year with total earnings of $189,185, and $78,588 of those earnings was won at the NFR.

When Burger and her daughter-in-law, P.J., qualified together for the NFR in 2009, they became the first mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo to achieve that feat.

She also broke the record set by Mary Walker in 2012 at 53 years old.

Burger was 68 years old when she won the championship in 2016, setting a new record for oldest professional rodeo world champion in any rodeo event, male or female.

Also In 2016, she became the third WPRA barrel racer to wear the No. 1 back number at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).

She set a new record for season earnings, and she set a new record by becoming the oldest WPRA qualifier to the NFR at 68 years old.

Her horses, Mo and Fred, whom she used to win her titles with, she trained in barrel racing herself.

In 2017, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.