On August 30, Francine Barnes was about to leave the Tri-State Fairgrounds in Amarillo to catch a flight back home to Glenview, Illinois, when she discovered that she was the 2008 Bayer Select World Championship Show Sooner Trailer All-Around Champion. She was floored. Never did she expect that she and her daughter Nicole’s gelding, Zippos Ace Of Spades, would win such an honor. They had come to show in four classes – showmanship, horsemanship, trail and western riding – making it back to the finals in all but horsemanship and winning a world championship in western riding. The Journal was able to catch Francine just minutes before she left the fairgrounds to ask about her big win. Here’s what she had to say.
Q. What does it feel like to be the all-around amateur champion?
Francine: Oh, my gosh! A dream. Never expected this in a million years. I just came here to show, and I had no idea even this award could be possible. There are so many others out there that have been riding for years and are phenomenal riders and I just never thought … (Tearing up, Francine pauses for a second to collect her thoughts.) Ace has the stuff for it. I didn’t know I had the stuff for it.
Q. Go through each of your classes and tell me about them.
Francine: In the showmanship, we made it to the finals, which was my first class. I ended up fifth in that. I was going, “OK.” And then we did the western riding, and I scored really well. I had a phenomenal ride. I’d never had a ride like that. Whether it was first or last, it didn’t matter because it was the best ride of my life and ended up being first. We were practicing for horsemanship, and I heard my name called out, and I’m going, “Oh!” That was the first time I had even thought about the all-around because that was not a goal of mine at all. Then I was first in the go for the horsemanship prelims and that didn’t go so good. (She laughs.) I thought, “There’s just no way then that I could win all-around.” For me, there was like a sigh of relief, almost. Then we did our trail. My trail was good. I could have executed a little bit better in my prelims but thankfully there were some ties so I did make it back to the finals in the trail. I was so prepared for the trail this morning and Tim, God love him, he raised everything really high. (She pauses to laugh again.) It was a nice course, but the elevations were higher than I can ever remember having on a trail course. I didn’t even know where I was placed, and somebody said, “I think you’re sitting third in the trail.” And I went, “OK. Whatever. I don’t know.” I just wanted to do well. I wanted to make my daughter proud. I wanted to make my trainer proud and my horse, he saved my butt several times. Those were my classes.
Francine Barnes and Zippos Ace Of Spades were the Select world champions in western riding. They also placed in the finals for showmanship and trail.
Q. Your daughter, Nicole, made it here to see you for the trail finals?
Francine: Yes, she did. She got in late Wednesday night, and she helped me with the trail and the horsemanship because she knows this horse inside and out. After all, she’s been showing him for six years, and she’s done pretty well on him. The first year, she showed Ace as an amateur at the (2006) World Show, she was all-around amateur there. She is pretty spectacular.
Q. Does Nicole give you a lot of coaching?
Francine: Constantly. We call her the Gestapo. She’s out there and people are looking at me like, “Oh, wow! She’s really tough on you.” She doesn’t realize that I’m 56 years old, and when she says, “Keep pushing!” my body just doesn’t want to go anymore. In fact, I was almost relieved I didn’t make the horsemanship because it was all loping and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I can give my body a break for a day.”
Q. Have you been showing long?
Francine: No. I did it in between Nicole. She is supposed to have given him to me last year, but she took him back again. She can’t make up her mind. It’s worked out OK. He’s such a great horse and she knows him so inside and out that it’s made it easier. And he tries so hard. I used to say this horse gives 150 percent. No, this horse gives 200 percent every time he steps in the pen.
Q. How often have you showed at the Bayer Select World?
Francine: This is my third Select world show. First time here, I won the western riding, which was a complete shock to me. Last year was the first time I had done more than two classes. It was hard, but it was good. This year, I had a different goal. I added showmanship, and I really added the horsemanship this year but the showmanship was what I really wanted to excel at. I’m a much better rider now, though, because I’ve had more opportunities to ride at home. I’ve been able to work with Ace more. I’ve also been riding my mom’s horse, which makes you a better rider when you ride different horses.
Q. Tell me more about Ace.
Francine: I can remember two weeks after we had purchased him, and Nicole was having a little bit of problems with Ace, but she was only 15 or 16. I looked over at Brad (Kearns), our trainer, and said, “Are you sure we bought the right horse?” That’s been the standing joke for the last six years. Brad will turn around after every time I do something really good, and he’ll look at me and go, “Are you sure we bought the right horse?” Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re saying.
Q. Will Ace stay in your family?
Francine: Ace will stay in the family as long I can keep it up. Actually, I would love to see Nya on him – Brad and Valerie Kearns’ daughter ride him. He would be perfect for her.
Q. Who would you like to thank?
Francine: Oh, my gosh, everybody! MY HORSE (she shouts), first off! Who I forgot the first time. The support: my trainers, my daughter, my husband, my son, my mom and my dad who passed away three years ago. But it is really because of him that we are here. He had a horse that he put with Diane Eppers, and he couldn’t ride it. So he put Nicole on him, and Diane said, “You know, I think this girl could be good.” That was in 1994. That’s been the history ever since. We just kept going.
Q. So winning must be in the genes.
Francine: Oh, no. I don’t think so. I don’t want to take a lot of credit for it. It’s all Ace … and Nicole.
Fun Fact: The reason Francine had to catch a plane before the Bayer Select World was over is because she had to get back to take care of her business, which is a dog kennel. "We have a dog kennel, and my son and my brother, who are holding up the fort, have plans to go away for the weekend. I have to be on call Sunday and Monday. We are closed, but I still have to be there. Like horses, it’s 24/7."
