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Posted: 2024-05-20 23:23:23

Racing around the backyard on a horse called Storm is Tyler Morton's after-school sport.

"It's a lot of adrenaline, you can't really think during the run," she said.

The 14-year-old sneaks out of the family classroom on a cattle station in western Queensland and into her barrel-racing arena.

Sometimes, her two sisters will join her for some friendly competition.

"Ever since we were little, we've been thrown on horses," Tyler said.

A birdseye view of Tyler Morton riding a horse with nothing but dirt and grass surrounding her.

Tyler practices on a flattened dirt paddock outside her house.(ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)

Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider run a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels.

The fastest time wins and can be determined by just thousandths of a second.

A young girl in a pink shirt on a brown horse going around a barrel

Tyler taught herself barrel racing from YouTube videos when she was younger.(Supplied: Meg Morton)

While her parents are seasoned horse riders, barrel racing is a skill that Tyler taught herself through hours of watching YouTube videos — sometimes when she was meant to be in her distance education classes.

"It's one of those things once you start, you can't stop," she said.

"I started googling videos, how the best way was to get your horse to be able to do it.

"Then I just went out in the backyard and practised."

Tyler adusting her horses reins as seen from behind a fence with horse shoes on it.

The 14-year-old has grown up around horses and attending rodeo events.(ABC Western Qld: Grace Nakamura)

Tyler's hard work has paid off and next month she is to compete in the United States at the World Junior High School Rodeo Finals.

She's one of 25 Australian teenagers who will go up against more than 1,000 competitors.

Hire a horse, hope for the best

The Mortons live and work on Baratria Station, more than an hour away from the closest outback town.

Tyler, Storm and her family have travelled to rodeo events in Queensland and New South Wales, sometimes journeying for days to get to competitions.

Tyler riding her black and white horse storm with her mum Meg watching.

Tyler's mum Meg Morton helps her train.(ABC Western Qld: Grace Nakamura)

But taking a horse to America is too expensive, so Tyler will have to leave Storm behind and race with one she's never ridden before.

"It's nerve-wracking," she laughed.

"There's kids that are already in America, they know their horse, they know everything that's going to happen."

Tyler will be scouting for a horse that "knows how to turn tight and has a lot of power and speed" — the markers of a good barrel racer.

A cluster of sheds and a house on a property pictured from the sky.

The Morton family moved to Baratria four years ago.(ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)

'Horses can have a bad day'

Her mum, Meg Morton, said she would be "nervous as heck".

"You just want the horse to perform for them because like anything the horses can have a bad day or moment — or make a wrong choice. So can the rider," she said.

"Even if she doesn't win, she can walk away and say I did it on my own merit and I got there myself.

"She trains very hard, is very dedicated and loves her horses."

A woman in a cowboy had and a young child on a horse

The Morton family are all horse riders but this is their first time taking it international.(Supplied: Meg Morton)

Residents in the surrounding towns of Longreach and Winton have donated to a fundraising campaign the Mortons started for Tyler's expenses.

"Everyone we talk to or run into are just so excited for Tyler … and to have someone out here in the outback that's going to go over there to represent Australia," Ms Morton said.

Racing for a living

Tyler wants to go to a rodeo college in America after she finishes school and hopes to make a living from racing.

"You have got to be good and go to rodeos every single weekend … if you're good enough, you'll be winning and the money they have there, you can live off," she said.

Tyler professional barrel racer

Tyler's dream is to attend a rodeo college in America and make a living from barrel racing.(Supplied: Danielle O'Brien Photography)

Her parents are supportive.

"It's daunting because obviously we would miss our girl if she moved overseas but you've got to follow your dreams," Ms Morton said.

"When it's someone's dream, you can't take that away, you do anything to help them get there."

Tyler riding her black and white horse storm with her mum Meg watching.

Tyler's training ground is mere metres away from her distance education classroom.(ABC Western Qld: Grace Nakamura)

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