Page 91 - May 2021

Alexia Willis at the 1995 National High School Rodeo finals in Gillette, Wyoming.
WHO’S THE BEST HORSE
YOU’VE WORKED WITH BESIDES BULLSEYE BULLION?
“Shawnes French Bug is by far one of my favorite horses I’ve ever run and owned.
He was an exceptional barrel horse and tough at any level of competition.
I bought him over the phone after I saw his weanling picture in a sale catalog. He was by leading barrel sire Frenchmans Guy and out of Royal Chick Three, a daughter of
Shawne Bug. When I got him home,
all my friends laughed at me that I had bought a sorrel Frenchmans Guy. He
started my obsession with sorrel geldings. He would run so fast down the alley to the first barrel it would take your breath away.
I still wish I could swing a leg over him one more time. He was one of my true loves
in life.”
WHAT’S YOUR PHILOSOPHY WHEN IT COMES TO BREEDING BARREL HORSES? “I try to breed horses in a way that I am happy to keep the least colt in my pasture. I will sell any baby I raise, and I keep the leftovers and do my best with them. I tried to sell Bullseye multiple times, he got passed over repeatedly and the rest is history.”
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR 2021?
“Just to improve with whatever I’m riding.”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO GET STARTED IN BARREL RACING?
“Go to clinics, learn basic horsemanship, surround yourself with better horsemen than what you are, buy the best individual you can and remember that there is no substitute for speed in a barrel horse.”
Alexia with her daughter, Posey.
Alexia and Shawnes French Bug, who she says was, “one of my true loves in life.”
I Hear Banjos winning his Oklahoma Paint & Appaloosa Futurity trial at Remington Park.
THE BACKSIDE
“He would run so fast down the alley to the first barrel it would take your breath
away. I still wish I could swing a leg over him one more time. He was
one of my true loves in life.”
SPEEDHORSE May 2021 89
Dustin Orona Photography