Local barrel racers to compete at Hastings rodeo
Hastings, Neb. – August 11, 2025 – Two local cowgirls are among the more than 150 contestants competing at the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings this weekend.
Kelsey Lauenstein, Shickley, and Jordan Swan, York, will both compete in the barrel racing at the Adams County Fairgrounds August 15-17.
Lauenstein, a native of Guide Rock, grew up around horses and competed in junior high school and high school rodeo. She showed horses in 4-H and open shows as well.
As an adult, she competed in the regional rodeo associations like the Nebraska State Rodeo Association (NSRA) and the Mid-States Rodeo Association, before taking a break from rodeo in 2021 to have her and husband Tyler’s son, Brooks.
It was a special horse, a mare named Foxi who was bred and raised by Lauenstein, who made her believe she could make it in the pros.
After placing consistently in the top ten at NSRA and Mid-States Rodeos with the six-year-old mare, she decided to become a Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) member this summer.
“I felt like this horse was that kind of caliber,” she said.
Foxi, whose registered name is KL Tic Toc, is fast, but has a personality. “She likes things to be a certain way,” Lauenstein said. “She’s very stoic and an old soul.” She likes butt scratches, but strongly dislikes carnival rides and fireworks. “We learned that the hard way at the Fourth of July rodeos,” she said.
Lauenstein, who works full-time at a bank, is grateful for her employer, who “supports both my family and my involvement in competitive pursuits.”
She’s also thankful for her parents and her in-laws, who help with her son.
Like Lauenstein, Jordan Swan grew up around horses.
And like Lauenstein, she got her start in the barrel racing at a young age.
She showed horses in 4-H and open shows, in the western pleasure, and soon was running barrels. Going fast was appealing to her. “You see cowgirls going fast (in the barrel racing) and it’s like, I want to do that.”
After college, Swan worked for horse futurity trainers in South Dakota and Texas for a few years, before moving back to Nebraska in 2021.
She is a certified general appraiser with a land management company. Her work is mostly remote, so she is able to compete in rodeos while working on the road.
Swan became a WPRA member nine years ago and has competed at the Hastings rodeo six times. She’s won money at the rodeo the last three years.
Her barrel horse is Legs, a sixteen-year-old mare who is “goofy,” Swan said, “but she works rodeoing.” Legs’ registered name is Storms A Shakin.
She’s flighty, even spooking at the painted yellow lines on the cement in parking lots. “Part of it is her saying, ‘I got you, ha ha.’”
Swan has only competed at five rodeos this year, due to a skull fracture suffered at a barrel racing jackpot last November. She spent several months resting and recovering and came back to competition in June.
Like Lauenstein, Swan doesn’t compete as much as she’d like, due to her job. She has two other horses that she is seasoning for competition.
Contestants from fifteen states will compete in Hastings August 15-16-17.
The PRCA rodeo features competition in eight events: bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, and for the women, breakaway roping and barrel racing.
Shows start at 7 pm on August 15-16 and at 6 pm on August 17.
Tickets range in price from $15-$30 and are available for purchase online at AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com, at the fair office, and at the gate.
For more information, call the fair office at 402.462.3247 or visit the website.