story by Ruth Nicolaus
Lorie Diodosio is the barrel racing director for the Colorado Pro Rodeo Association.
The Fowler, Colorado cowgirl has been involved with horses and barrel racing her entire life.
She grew up near Pueblo, Colo., competing in local saddle clubs, 4-H, Little Britches Rodeos and high school rodeo. She was a CPRA member for several years till her daughter, Dolly, was born in 1999.
Lorie rides futurity barrel horses and loves it. She takes a limited number of outside horses, usually only for people she knows.
Her futurity schedule depends on the potential of the colts that year. She’s looking forward to 2022. “I have some really nice colts I am excited for.” There are sometimes years with no colts at all; it just depends on what’s coming down the pike.
Lorie sells some of her colts, which she futurities as five-year-olds, and keeps some for herself, but keeps her daughter mounted as well. Dolly, a student at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla., is running barrels, breakaway roping, and team roping. Lorie’s good horses “trickle down to her a lot of the time.”
In her potential futurity colts, Lorie looks for their attitude and trainability. “Not all of them have a lot of ‘want to please’ attitude to them,” she said. She doesn’t limit herself to a particular bloodline, but she has had some colts out of the stud Born Ta Be Famous, and likes them. “I get along with all of his colts. They’re easy and fit my style.”
There’s never a guarantee with colts, and she doesn’t like to brag on upcoming prospects. “You never know till you put the heat on them,” she said. “They may fall apart.”
She works as the school nurse at Fowler School District, managing the health for 400 students, grades kindergarten through twelfth. As the nurse, she takes care of kids who get sick at school and keeps track of health plans and medicines. She’s also the district’s wellness coordinator, helping the staff to get and stay healthy.
She and her husband, Mike, will be married thirty years this coming November. Mike, a former team roper, farms, and Lorie helps out as she can. They raise alfalfa and Lorie can often be found doing tractor work. She appreciates her husband, who does nearly all the cooking for the two of them.
Lorie went back to CPRA competition in 2015. Last year, she volunteered to be the barrel racing director because she wanted representation for her event. Being a director requires her to find sponsors for her event and act as liaison between the barrel racers and the judges.
Her mom, Nancy Schiffer, travels with her to rodeos. Nancy, who is 87 years old, loves horses and rodeo and is a “go-getter,” Lorie said. Lorie does the driving but Nancy helps keep her awake with conversation.
This year, Lorie’s CPRA barrel horse is an eleven-year-old brown horse named Eight Ball, who is “solid, consistent, and easy to get along with.”
She has qualified for the CPRA finals four times.
