Page 146 - 2018 Barrel Stallion Register

With a father who excelled riding sad- dle broncs and a mother who rides barrel horses, Jacie Etbauer found a wonderful and satisfying career literally in her backyard. She and her two brothers, Kord and Treg, play key roles in the family’s breeding and training business, and Jacie has become a talented barrel racer herself.
Billy Etbauer is now retired from the rodeo circuit. He is a five-time PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider. Hollie (Billy’s wife and Jacie’s mother) and Jacie have both qualified this year for the semi-finals of RFD- TV’s The American in barrel racing.
“I’ve qualified three times,” said Jacie. “The first year I qualified, I was one from making it to The American—I was 11th. I’m excited to go back.”
Getting so close to the finals has moti- vated Jacie to work especially hard this year. Her parents, through their work ethic, have
set good role models for their children. The family stands two stallions; breeds, raises, and breaks performance horses; and maintains a large recipient mare band for their veterinarian, Dr. Dee Gragg. The diverse operation keeps everyone busy year-round.
Not surprisingly, Jacie began riding as a very young girl. Hollie says that her daughter’s
first ride by herself was on a pony in a stall at 18 months. Jacie began rudimentary barrel racing at about age 3 and started competing at 5. She primarily competes in barrel racing, but has also done pole bending, goat tying, breakaway, and team roping.
“I was 10 when I trained my first horse,” said Jacie. “I trained him on barrels and poles.”
Jacie continued to barrel race while she was home schooled, and she graduated from high school in 2017. She competes on many weekends and also pursues an interest in photography.
“I’m taking a year off of school to figure out what I want to do,” Jacie said. “I enjoy taking photos of animals, but I have also shot some portraits.”
Jacie and Hollie train their horses after Billy starts them. Having someone as skilled at start- ing horses as Billy gives the horses an excellent foundation.
“Dad has started a few of them for me this year,” Jacie said. “I have two 3 year olds now. Dad puts 30 days on them before I get on.”
Jacie is proud of her father’s ability to start horses. She says that people who buy their horses with 30 days of training often think the horses have had 90 days. She also thanked Express Ranches, a longtime sponsor of her family.
The Etbauers have put together stallions
and a band of broodmares with good barrel bloodlines, and Jacie usually trains horses they bred and raised. The Etbauers stand the stallions PC Frosty Bid, a buckskin son of Sun Frost, and Whistle At The Babes, a bay son of No Whistle.
The late Ellis Gragg, father of Dee Gragg, bred No Whistle, who was multiple stakes- placed on the racetrack and won six races, including a couple at Los Alamitos.
Horses Jacie rides now include Whistles Spirit, a daughter of No Whistle, and Sizzle Whistle, a son of Whistle At The Babes. She has even competed occasionally on PC Frosty Bid.
“I actually also run my brother’s heel horse, I Be Whistlin (by Whistle At The Babes),” said Jacie. “She’s stepped up her game this year. She’s pretty short because she’s a heel horse, but she can shut the clock off.”
Though Jacie primarily competes on the rodeo circuit, she has succeeded at the AQHYA World Show. She won a World Championship in barrel racing in 2013 aboard Whistle Bugs, a son of No Whistle. In 2014 she took Reserve World Champion aboard Sizzle Whistle.
With the entire family dedicated to producing good performance horses, don’t be surprised if Jacie collects even more trophies in the years ahead.
Jacie etbauer
a 19-year-old high school graduate who lives in edmond, Oklahoma
by Tracy Gantz
Jacie took Reserve World Champion honors aboard Sizzle Whistle in RFD-TV’s The American.
144 SPEEDHORSE
YOUTH INDUSTRY PROFILE