Competition · Isabela, Puerto Rico
She races barrels and poles.
Training is easy to talk about and hard to fake against a clock. Barrels and poles at two Puerto Rican rodeos, Aibonito and the Feria Agrícola in Lajas, and a gaited class at the Copa Poti Rosas in Aguada.
Watch
Two runs, with the sound on.
Both of these are real competitions, filmed from the rail on a phone. Press sound and the captions clear off the video.
Barrel run
Kellie riding the pattern at a rodeo. Filmed from the rail, so she is small in frame.
Copa Poti Rosas · Aguada
A gaited class at the Picadero de Aguada, 5 September 2026. Fourth place.
Kellie competes in barrel racing and pole bending at rodeos here in Puerto Rico, and she has placed. Both patterns, at both of the rodeos in this gallery. She rides every horse she trains.
The real test is a crowd, a clock and strange ground
Any horse looks good in a quiet barn aisle. A rodeo adds a loudspeaker, a packed rail, ground it has never felt, and a rider asking for full speed. That is what the training is for.
Event 01 · Southwest coast
Rodeo Feria Agrícola, Lajas
The bigger of the two arenas and the harder ground: dry, dark, deep-worked footing with the Lajas valley hills behind the rail. Two horses ran here, across both patterns. Kellie is in the light blue shirt.
Event 02 · Central mountains
Rodeo Aibonito
A tighter mountain arena cut into a green hillside, with a covered pavilion on the rail and a digital timer running on the fence line. Barrels on the buckskin paint, poles on a second horse. Kellie is in the light pink shirt and tan cap.
The full set
All 23 photos. Sort them how you like.
Pick an event or a pattern, then open any photo full size. Arrow keys move through the set.
Showing all 23 frames
Rodeo Feria Agrícola, Lajas
18 photos
Rodeo Aibonito
5 photos
All arena photography by Adrián Pérez. Images are reproduced with the photographer's watermark intact.
Want your horse fit and calm enough to run these?
Getting there
Need to get there? The trailer already goes.
Shows, rodeos, fiestas patronales and parades anywhere on the island. Same-day round trips for local events, multi-day plans for the bigger ones. Book one to two weeks ahead.
Lajas and Aibonito are both a haul from Isabela. That is the job.
Answers
Competing with a horse in Puerto Rico.
What is the difference between barrel racing and pole bending?
Barrel racing is a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels, run against the clock, where the whole event turns on how tightly and how balanced the horse can turn at speed. Pole bending is a weave up and back through a line of six poles, so it rewards straightness, lead changes and a horse that can stay collected while changing direction repeatedly. Both patterns appear in the gallery on this page, at both rodeos.
Can a Paso Fino run barrels and poles?
Yes. The Puerto Rican Paso Fino is bred for a smooth four-beat lateral gait and is typically 13 to 15 hands, smaller than most North American riding breeds but powerful for its size and famously sure-footed on rough ground. That footwork and willingness translate well to speed patterns. Horses of every breed and background are welcome in the training program, and the herd at Hacienda Los Ponce includes both Paso Finos and a retired barrel racer from the mainland.
Do you haul horses to rodeos and shows across Puerto Rico?
Yes. Event and show transport covers Paso Fino competitions, rodeos, fiestas patronales, parades and photoshoots anywhere on the island, from the Isabela base. Local events are handled as same-day round trips. Bigger shows are scheduled as multi-day logistics with layover care and return-trip coordination. Show dates should be booked one to two weeks ahead.
How do you prepare a horse for its first competition?
The same four rungs used in every training program: groundwork, manners and personal space, responsiveness, then confidence under saddle. A rodeo arena adds a loudspeaker, a full rail of spectators, unfamiliar footing and other horses working nearby, so the groundwork has to be genuinely solid before speed is asked for. The training program runs 16 sessions over four weeks, four days a week, with weekly video.
Who took the competition photos on this page?
All arena photography on this page is by Adrián Pérez, whose watermark appears on every frame. The images are shown as delivered, unmodified apart from resizing for the web.
Where do these rodeos take place?
Aibonito sits in the central mountain range of Puerto Rico and its arena is cut into a green hillside. Lajas is on the southwest coast, in the Lajas valley, and holds the Feria Agrícola. Both are a haul from the Isabela base on the northwest coast, which is exactly the kind of trip the event transport service covers.
Related
The horse that gets ridden at these is one of five at Hacienda Los Ponce, and Dolly is a retired barrel racer herself. Read about the herd, watch the ground work that comes first on the training videos page, or read how the four week program is structured. If you want photographs of your own horse rather than arena shots, that is equestrian photography.
Got a question about competing here? Just ask.
Hacienda Los Ponce, Isabela, Puerto Rico. Email barefootridingpr@gmail.com or call and WhatsApp 904.705.2294. I answer within 24 hours.
