Reba McEntire Shared an Amazing Photo from Her Rodeo Barrel Racing Days
The Happy's Place star is "a survivor," but she originally wanted to be a champion on horseback.
From country music singer and sitcom star to Broadway actress and restaurant entrepreneur and back, Reba McEntire has led many lives. But before any of those ventures, she almost embarked on an entirely different path: barrel racing.
"I wanted to be a world champion barrel racer," the Happy's Place star told Jimmy Fallon during her October visit to The Tonight Show.
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Fallon shared an amazing vintage photo of McEntire — cowboy hat and all — competing in the rodeo event on horseback. You can check out the pic for yourself in the interview above.
"This looks pretty dangerous and scary right here," he said, showing the picture to the audience. "How far did you go?"
"Not very far," The Voice Coach admitted, as Fallon joked, "You stopped after this photo was taken?"
"Yeah, pretty much! I got my picture taken. That's all I needed," McEntire joked. For those unfamiliar with the high-speed rodeo event, barrel racing is a women's competition in which riders race toward barrels with the goal of completing a full circle and cloverleaf patterns with the goal of being the fastest competitor to do it.
"Daddy used to say, 'Reba, why do you want to do stuff you're not good at?' He said, 'Get in there and practice your singing," she told Fallon. "I thought, 'How you do that is not nearly as much fun as going out and riding your horse and competing.'"
How Reba McEntire's rodeo days prepared her for a life in country music
McEntire's Tonight Show interview wasn't the first time she's publicly looked back at her rodeo days. In her 2023 memoir, Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots, she revealed how being on horseback actually prepared her for her life as a singer and performer.
"The kind of drive I learned on horseback set me up for building a career in music. In this industry, the key thing to do is just to keep going and keep racing against yourself," she wrote. "There are a lot of talented hardworking people in the world, but I'm convinced that it's the ones with an unshakeable belief in themselves who end up succeeding most often. Or maybe it's those who are just too stubborn to know when to quit."
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While the "Consider Me Gone" singer didn't quite make a name for herself in barrel racing, she does have a history in the rodeo. Her father and her grandfather were World Champion steer ropers, and her first husband was rodeo champion Charlie Battles.
McEntire's big break even happened at a rodeo, when in 1974 country singer Red Steagall heard her sing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. He later financed her first music recording session, and McEntire was signed to Mercury Records the following year... and the rest is country music history.
