Page 140 - May 2022

THE BACKSIDE
LAVERNE FEIN by John Moorehouse
“You put me somewhere, I’ll find a horse, I promise you.”
HOME BASE: Prague, Oklahoma YEARS EXPERIENCE: “Over 30. Way
over 30.”
ASSOCIATIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Southeast Circuit Women’s Professional Rodeo Association finalist in 2013. Three-time OQHA Junior Barrels State Champion, twice with Spit N Bullets and last year with Fein 1. Six-time OQHA Senior Barrels State Champion with This Bully Raps. Qualified for the 2016 AQHA World Show with This Bully Raps. Florida Chapter WPRA Champion Barrel Racer in 2006.
LaVerne Fein has had a lifelong passion for horses.
“You put me somewhere, I’ll find a horse, I promise you,” she said.
LaVerne aboard her pony horse at Hialeah Park where she worked as an assistant trainer.
Even during her career of more than
two decades as a police officer in Davie, Florida, Fein found a way to work with horses. As a mounted patrol officer, she
also rode at several major events, including multiple Super Bowls and George W. Bush’s Presidential inaugural parade.
Fein pursued her hobby as a team roper, then got into the world of show horses and dressage—until one fateful night when she went to the rodeo and saw some barrel racing. “I got hooked,” Fein said.
She also worked with Quarter Horses as an assistant trainer at Hialeah Park in Florida. Fein retired from law enforcement and
set up her own farm in Prague, Oklahoma. There, she primarily devotes her efforts to re-training racehorses for barrel racing or just as horses to ride.
“Sometimes people think barrel horses have to be crazy,” Fein said, “but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Don’t underestimate the training and the time that goes into these horses. The care. It’s 24/7. They’re not for everybody. Just like driving
a Ferrari or a dragster is not for everybody. They’re not for the weak of heart, but that doesn’t mean they’re not highly trained. They have to be.”
She also breeds her own horses, mostly for barrel racing. “Nothing makes me prouder than to raise one, to pick a stallion, breed to one of my mares, and train that horse until it’s running in the top divisions of barrel racing,” Fein said. “There’s nothing like being able to do that. There’s
a pride in watching that horse develop over the years.”
Now, let’s learn more about Fein and her work in the latest installment of our Backside series.
WHAT SPECIFICALLY DREW YOU TO BARREL RACING?
“I never saw pro barrel racing until I saw a pro rodeo one night [in Florida]. The girls were warming up in O-rings, doing extended gaits. The horses had such amazing handles. ... It was actually amazing: how talented they were, how fast they went, how talented the riders were, and the horses were. I went home and sold all my dressage horses and got into barrel horses. I started breeding my own horses. They come off the track and go into my program and ride barrels.”
138 SPEEDHORSE May 2022
Courtesy LaVern Fein Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse