McLeod’s Cinderella story

Not only is Michele McLeod pitted against the toughest field she’s ever seen, she is battling new surroundings as a first-timer to the Stampede.

Which means slightly — but significantly — different angles to navigate in the barrel-racing. Which means some anxiety. Hers, not her horse’s. “He doesn’t get nervous,” McLeod said of her seven-year-old stallion, Slick By Design. “He loves his job. I need to stay out of his way to let him work. He’s an awesome, awesome horse. He does not act like a stallion. He absolutely loves his job. He loves to go down the road. He loves to run barrels. That’s why we’re here.

“There’s always prestige to these rodeos. Different feel, atmosphere. This is such an exciting rodeo, such an honour to be here, that it’s hard not to get nervous.”

McLeod, though, appears to have sorted it out, dashing through Thursday’s go-round in 17.38 seconds, good for top day money — $5,500.

“A cool day. A very, very cool day.”

That, after subpar displays Tuesday and Wednesday.

“My horse has been working really well,” McLeod, out of Whitesboro, Texas, said. “I was hoping to be solid in each round. But the first couple rounds, they weren’t what I expected. It’s hard not to fight your head a little bit. It’s hard not to get nervous. But I knew I could do it if I got the right setup. And (Thursday) I got the right setup on the first barrel.”

In March 2013, a group of fellow Texans had approached her about racing their black stallion.

So she gave Slick a spin. The duo enjoyed success locally. Then they won a round at the 2013 Ponoka Stampede, then ended up in the NFR.

“It was like a Cinderella story,” said McLeod. “It was crazy. It’s gone … more than our expectations.”