story by Lily Weinacht
“Rodeo is my passion, and I’ve always loved horses and the rodeo atmosphere,” says Rachel Samuels. “It’s good to get away from the stress of school and work, and I like going to the different arenas and seeing the people I only get to see in the summertime and catching up with them.” The 23-year-old barrel racer from Port Jervis, New York, is entering her fourth year in the APRA, but she’s been rodeoing most of her life. “I did stick horse races when I was little, and I was two or three when I got my first pony. As I started getting older, I did some NBHAs, and when I got my current horse, Goldie, I started high school rodeo as sophomore.” Rachel was the 2010 NYSHSRA Barrel Racing Champion, and she also competed in pole bending and goat tying. She went on to compete on the Northwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo team in Alva, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology. “I loved it out there and met a lot of great people. It was different, but it was fun!”
Rachel’s greatest rodeo role models are her parents, David and Jae Samuels, along with her grandpa Al Samuels and uncle Rick Samuels. Her dad and grandpa learned to rope around the same time, and even branched into roughstock, while Rick competed in tie-down roping and steer wrestling. “My mom got into barrel racing when she met my dad, and she’s taught me a lot about riding and working a barrel horse properly,” says Rachel. “My dad is always there to watch me when I’m riding, and he goes to rodeos with me and has team roped in the APRA for many years. My grandpa is always there for pep talks and cheering me on, and he works for Malibu Rodeo, where I compete every Saturday night. My uncle is a photographer, so he likes to take photos of me riding.”
With her support team behind her, Rachel qualified for the AFR in 2015, and she’s working toward her second qualification this year. She’s also won several of Malibu’s rodeos, and NBHA championships. “I won the Cobleskill Fair one year and placed second another year, so that’s my favorite place – it’s treated me pretty well.” She’s ridden her Breeding Stock Paint mare, Goldie, now 19, for the last 9 years. “She’s a little fireball, and she has the most heart I think I’ve ever had in a horse. She tries her hardest every run. I won a couple of the New York state NBHA finals on her, and we’ve placed in APRA and college rodeos.” Rachel also has three dogs and two cats, and Hooey, her border collie/blue heeler mix loves to travel to rodeos. “He goes to every rodeo and loves watching all the events,” she says.
Rachel is now working on her master’s in occupational therapy through Dominican College, and she also works part time at an animal shelter, working with the animals, cleaning, and helping with medications and feeding. “I love it there. My dad told me when I started that I couldn’t bring any more dogs home, but I did end up bringing a kitten home,” Rachel says with a laugh. She enjoys hiking and going to the beach, along with watching movies and reading, but it’s more likely she’s out rodeoing in the summer. “This year, I’d like to try and make the AFR again. I’d like to do it at least one more time with Goldie, and I’d like to get a good job in my career field and keep rodeoing.”