Charmayne James

Charmayne and her horse Scamper. ( ())

My hero is Charmayne James because of the amount of success she has had throughout her barrel racing career. She has set many records throughout her career and I truly admire her for that.

Charmayne James was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1970. She was 3 years old when she started riding and already people could see her becoming pro. Charmayne bought and trained a six year old horse name Gill's Bay Boy also known as Scamper. The two pair worked there way up to running pro. When she was only 14 years old, she and Scamper earned their first title of World Champion Barrel Racer followed by 10 more titles. All of the titles she won were on the same horse, Scamper. She qualified for the NFR (Nation Finals Rodeo) 19 times and out of those she was the average champion seven times. Charmayne is the first ever million dollar earner; she won exactly $2,000,000 in the arena. She was also the first Women's Professional Rodeo Association member to earn the #1 back number at the National Finals Rodeo. I think the main thing that inspires me about her is that she has won more individual world championships than any other woman in professional sports and she is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. To me there is one major event Charmayne and Scamper had. 1n 1985 the two were at the Nation Finals Rodeo; Charmayne was only 15 years old. The two were getting ready to go into their run and there was a cement wall which scamper had hit and a screw came out of the bridal. The bridal came off and hit Charmayne right under the eye and that was when she knew that it had fallen off. By the time she realized what had happened they were already on their way to the first barrel, there was no way of stopping Scamper. She went around the first and second barrel with the bridal hanging between his legs and only the bit in his mouth. When Charmayne got to the third barrel she was on the back side and the bit had fallen out, it almost looked like Scamper just spit it out. They finished the pattern and had won the round; it was an unbelievable run they put together.

Today Charmayne lives in Boerne, Texas. Scamper passed away July 4th, 2012 but was always healthy until the very end. Scamper was put into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado 1996 and will always remain a legend. Charmayne retired from rodeo in 2003.  She now spends her time training horses and working with riders who have the same dreams and dedication that she did.

Charmayne James is important to me in so many ways because she has taught me so many different things throughout my rodeo career. She has made me want to be as successful as I can in rodeo and has showed me that if you are dedicated and believe in yourself then you will succeed in your sport. I think it is amazing how her success came to be. Charmayne started out with a horse that was from a feed lot and knew not a thing. She trained him into being one of the most successful horses ever known. By this it shows me that you can make something huge out of something very little and that anything is possible.

The amount of accomplishments this barrel racer has had is unreal and I truly look up to her for this. She is so successful and is truly a hero to me.