story by Lily Weinacht
The Junior NFR takes place in Lyndee Moser’s hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. The 10-year-old barrel racer qualified for the event for the second year in a row, this time at the KK Productions qualifier in Guthrie, Oklahoma. She and her mom, barrel racer and WNFR veterinarian, Dr. Leslie Schur, stopped in at the Lance Graves International Barrel Race on their way to Fort Worth, where Leslie competed in The American Semi-Finals.
Lyndee won her junior division at the KK Run For Vegas qualifier in Guthrie, made even more special given it was her first competitive run since breaking her collarbone in December. Her horse behaved very abnormally at the Junior NFR due to ear ticks — which the Mosers later discovered and treated — and Lyndee broke her collarbone just ten minutes prior to her first run. She went ahead with her run before going home to recuperate and cheer her friends on via the television. “All my friends are at my rodeos and they help me a lot,” says Lyndee.
She was back in the saddle 12 days later for some easygoing riding, astride her barrel horse KG Cashin In On Beau, better known as Jersey. Jersey is the twin sister of Issy, the mare that barrel racer Kathy Grimes rode in December at her first WNFR. A friend of Leslie’s, Kathy stayed with the Mosers during the WNFR. Lyndee also visited with 2017 WNFR barrel racer Amber Moore, who is another of her mom’s friends. “I always watch all the people at the NFR and how they ride, and then I work out my own way to ride my horses,” Lyndee explains.
She rides daily and ropes the dummy every night. She’s often joined in the arena by her parents, Leslie and Darrell, and her sisters, Reese, 8, and Marquel, 13. Along with barrel racing at KK Productions, Lyndee competes across Nevada in the Wrangler Junior Rodeo Association in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, and team roping as a header. “Chuck is my roping and goat horse. Indy is a really good pole horse and she’s a barrel horse too, and Jules is an all-around horse.” Lyndee is also training a 3-year-old mare, Buddha, and a 2-year-old mare, Sheila, who is by Jersey’s half brother. The family also has several more horses, cows, dogs, and a rabbit.
When she’s not on the rodeo trail, Lyndee attends Doral Academy, but she also does school on the road. “My favorite subjects are math and science,” says the fifth-grader. “We’ve been working on decimals and dividing fractions, and we’re learning about the sun and planets.” Cooking is another one of her interests. “Usually on Sunday mornings I wake up super early and cook a big breakfast. I usually make pancakes and omelets all from scratch, and I make muffins.”
Lyndee’s rodeo lineup for the 2018 season includes her WJRA rodeos and competing in the Buckles and Barrels for Bailey race held every Labor Day Weekend at the South Point Equestrian Center. “We take part in it every year. I’m the veterinarian for the event,” says Leslie, who opened the Desert Pines Equine Center with Dr. Garth Lamb in 1998. “The folks that put the race together are dear friends of ours, and for the last three years, Lyndee has taken part of her earnings through the year and been a sponsor of the race.” Lyndee’s sisters are working to qualify for the Junior NFR themselves in hopes that all three will run in the arena their dad set up. He is the general superintendent for Mel Clark Construction and sets up several arenas around Las Vegas between Thanksgiving and Christmas, including the Junior NFR, WNFR, an extra arena at South Point, and Mandalay Bay.
“This year I want to win the all-around at my rodeo, and I know I’ll have to work really hard for that,” Lyndee finishes. “I want to qualify for The American on both my (barrel) horses, and win the Junior NFR.”
