In a steady, slow trot, Lauren’s Baby Faye warmed up for her race. Mounted on top of the coffee-cream buckskin quarter horse sits Lauren Holdcraft, a freshman from Rockvale, Tenn., whose calm confidence increased with each stride.

Upstairs there is a different scene. Tension built in Holdcraft’s mom, Pam, as the ninth rider in the barrel races finishes her run; nerves are taut like a frozen rubber band.

The Lone Star Rodeo “Young Guns” tour rode into the Agricultural Exposition Center and hosted four shows over the weekend. Holdcraft was one of more than 370 performers from all over the Southeast who competed in eight different events, including bareback bronco riding, steer wrestling and breakaway roping.

The gate flung open and her mother gasped as Holdcraft rounded the first barrel. The crowd cheered louder as the local-county woman started the final straightaway sprint.

Galloping faster and kicking dirt higher, Lauren’s Baby Faye followed Holdcraft’s commands back to the starting gate. Her time of 14.36 seconds is not good enough to win but encourages the cowgirl to ride again.

An interior design major, Holdcraft doesn’t fit the John Wayne cowboy image, but to suggest that to her will only get her to lean back and chuckle.

Pam Holdcraft said it’s Lauren’s spirit that allows her to succeed in a sport like barrel racing.

“Oh yeah, I mean you got to have a special kind of personality to compete like this,” she said. “You just can’t put any kid on a horse and expect them to ride.”

Lauren Holdcraft said some people might not realize the work and stress that goes into preparing for a competition. She practices

about two hours a day, about four times a week at her parents’ 15-acre farm.

For the last eight years, Holdcraft has competed in about 40 rodeos a year in several states including Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee.

“I just love the rush you get from it, especially when you have a good crowd and a good run,” she said.

While Holdcraft is the only Western student who competed Saturday night, she wasn’t the only woman to take up the cowgirl lifestyle. Holdcraft was one of 22 women who competed.

Vanderbilt student Jill Cooper also tries to balance the life as a student and rodeo cowgirl.

Cooper said she got into competing because of her family. Her brothers compete in the Professional Rodeo Association and her dad, Jimmy Cooper, is a former rodeo world champion.

A Franklin, Tenn., native, Cooper, who rode her horse Chubby in the calf roping event, said the biggest challenge is overcoming her last name rather than being seen as an equal.

“Sometimes when you do team roping events, the men will kind of wonder if you can hold your own, and I have to establish myself when I’m out there,” she said. “But really the last name Cooper has more pressure to it.”

For Michelle Miller from Rosemark, Tenn., a six-year rodeo veteran, juggling a full-time job and competitions is worth the thrill.

“When I saw it (rodeo competition) on TV, I knew I wanted to do it,” Miller said. “The adrenaline from going that fast is unreal.”

Returning to their horse trailers and disappointed by their performance, all three women still have an air of optimism. All three know they will soon have the chance to ride again.

Reach Andrew McNamara at features@wkuherald.com.