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The Better Barrel Races Midwest Xtravaganza held June 13-16 at Garwood Arena in Columbiana, Ohio, hosted an American Contender Tournament qualifier as well as $20,000-added Futurity, $20,000-added Open 5D races and sidepots, plus a $10,000-added Select Stallions race.
Regan Henning teamed with her home-raised 2017 gelding SocksNotHavinACorona, aka “Kronk,” to cinch up a qualification to The American Contender Tournament Regional Semifinals in Lexington, Kentucky, January 23-25, 2025, at All-Tech Arena located on the campus of picturesque Kentucky Horse Park.
“Whenever they changed the setup for Semifinals it really added to the excitement for me,” said Regan. “Now that the Regional Semifinals are in Lexington that’s great motivation because getting a great rodeo like that in our part of the country is such an added bonus. My sister’s boyfriend said the Semis in Lexington is one of the coolest rodeos he’s ever been to. I’m looking forward to it.”
Regan cruzed her bay speedster to a decisive three-tenths victory in the American qualifier, which earned her $1,500. Sired by BHR Frenchies Socks and out of the Henning Farms broodmare Famous Corona by Southern Cartel, Kronk is a product of the Henning family’s horse obsession that traces back to when sisters Regan and Morgan were just pee wee barrel racers.
“His mother is our ‘golden goose,’” said Regan. “We bought her after the Quarter Horse Congress one year. Me and my sister both ran her and had success on her. She actually had EPM two times and so after that we decided we’d try and pull embryos out of her.”
Regan’s faith in her family’s barrel horse breeding and training business inspired her strong performances in Columbiana.
“I really wanted to do his [Kronk’s] mom proud,” said Regan “The better I can make her look, the more it adds value to her foals. She’s got five foals of riding age and nine total. Our goal is to try and get two embryos a year out of her. We’ll do ICSI to The Goodbye Lane this year as well.”
Regan, who splits her schedule between rodeos, futurities and large divisional races, says Kronk is simple and straightforward to operate.
“He’s almost too simple to ride,” said Regan. “If you try to do too much it messes him up. His personality is very easy going too. I don’t really work him at home for him, if I do work him it’s more for me. He wants to be very straight so I will ride him a lot in draw reins and really emphasize the bend. Other than that I’ve had great results keeping him on MVP 6-Way and NeutraBac PH. He’s a very easy keeper too, which is nice.”
Regan estimates that Kronk’s current Equi-Stat earnings record sits right at the $100,000 mark.
“I’ve been running him all along since the Barrel Futurities of America Super$takes,” said Regan, who credits Cody Bauserman and Denny Dawson for their contributions to Kronk’s success. “They’ve both helped a lot.”
Ronda Casey, of New Plymouth, Indiana, finished second behind Regan with a time of 15.992 riding UndniablyASportser. Casey added $1,000 to her bank account plus an Automatic Advancement to Lexington.
ONE FAST FAMILY
Kronk’s dam Famous Corona, aka “Corona,” has three foals sired by BHR Frenchies Socks and one sired by the Henning’s stallion, One Last Story. Barrel racing aficonados will remember One Last Story’s dam, Story Tellen Flower, a mare Regan rode to the prestigious AQHA Congress Sweepstakes title back in 2010. Mind you, Regan was 8 years old at the time. The pint-sized powerhouse went viral for beating seasoned pros many years her senior.
Fast forward 14 years and the barrel racing phenom, now age 22, is a an established force within the barrel racing industry. Story Tellen Flower, now deceased, was not only a huge part of writing Regan’s story but also the maternal cornerstone of Henning Farms horse program.
“Our stud is the only baby out of Story Tellen Flower,” said Regan. “He is by JL Dash Ta Heaven. Jud Little had wanted to breed her to his stud and we ended up buying his half out when One Last Story was a yearling.”
For the Hennings, barrel racing is a family affair, with all hands playing a part in breeding and raising incredible barrel racing prospects.
“It’s completely my dad Joel’s faul,” Regan laughed. “He created a couple of monsters with me and my sister being obsessed with barrel horses! Now he’s like, ‘Why don’t you slow down on going to the barrel races and get a real job?’”
Regan is also quick to credit her mother Bobbie as vital to the success of Team Henning.
“Mother has run around like a chicken with her head cut off for years in support of us and all of our activities,” said Regan, adding that it wasn’t easy doing horses while playing three sports during her high school years; something she couldn’t have done without Mom’s help.
Regan looks forward to finishing out the summer hauling with her sister to a mix of rodeos, large divisional shows and futurities. Come January she can’t wait to run Kronk through the Alltech Arena alleyway and take a stab at advancing all the way to Arlington, Texas in April for rodeo’s richest single day—The American.
COLUMBIANA CASH
From top-notch facilities to lucrative added money, the BBR Midwest Xtravaganza will be back again in 2025, with dates already confirmed at Garwood Arena for June 12-15.
“They’ve done a ton with it to make Columbiana a great event,” said Regan, adding that the level of competition in the Midwest and Northeast is stouter than a lot of people assume. “We have a lot of tough competitors out here, it’s just that in contrast to Texas or Oklahoma there aren’t as many, but if you can win out here you can win there.”
The Garwood Arena complex features not only state-of-the-art performance and warm-up arenas, but also heated office spaces and viewing lounges, 418 permanent stalls and 150 RV hook-ups, making it one of the premier facilities in the region.
According to BBR, 2,968 runs were made through the course of the four-day Columbiana race with a whopping $241,085 being paid out. The arena record was broken more than once as a testament to the level of competition. Twenty five different states were represented with barrel racers coming from New York, Maryland and New Hampshire, just to name a few. Incidentally, Regan pocketed $9,983 in total earnings aboard the three horses she hauled to Columbiana. Leslie Richards, of Bellville, Ontario, Canada, emerged as the high earning barrel racer of the weekend when she banked $22,762.
