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Amy Wheeler of Chetek participated in World's Toughest Rodeo at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., last weekend, Feb. 1-3. The World's Toughest Rodeo features the Toughest Cowboy competition, seeing which cowboy can ride three rough stock (bull riding, saddle bronc and bareback) events and get the highest score. Most of the cowboys specialize in one of these events, so the fun of the weekend becomes seeing who can be successful in all three.

As part of the rodeo, there is a barrel-racing competition, which Wheeler participated in as part of the winter circuit of rodeos. She'd already participated in Kansas City, Mo., and Peoria, Rockford and Moline, all in Illinois, and placed consistently within the top five at those events. In St. Paul, Minn., however, Wheeler and her five-year-old horse did better than they have ever done before, placing third the first night and first the second night, with times of 13.9 seconds and 13.5 seconds, respectively. The top time from the first night was 13.6 seconds.

"We'd never done this good," said Wheeler. "It was excellent. I had such a blast. I'm still in awe."

Of course, Wheeler is no stranger to the barrel-racing world. While in high school and college, Wheeler was an avid barrel racer. There was about a 10-year span that Wheeler took off from barrel racing, until about six years ago, when Wheeler bought a horse she named Buoy, and her success in barrel racing started up once again.

Wheeler was quick to credit her young horse for their success in St. Paul, Minn. What makes Buoy so unique is the level the horse has been performing at, considering he has not been in many competitions. Wheeler explained that Buoy was not broke until he was three. Then, Buoy only ran in 10 competitions during the summer of 2006. Over most of 2007, Wheeler did not compete because she was expecting a baby. In October, she started up again with a competition in Iowa. The break in training must not have affected Buoy much, as he placed second.

"Buoy has been such a big surprise," said Wheeler. "He has been such a blessing directly from God. The horse only cost me $700, and it's turned out to be great."

With their success in St. Paul, Minn., Wheeler is setting her sights on a competition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the weekend of Feb. 8, with one goal in mind-to win.

"Now that I know I can, we really hope to win again," said Wheeler.

Wheeler's ultimate goal, though, is to win national competitions that held every year in Las Vegas, Nev. She admits that it probably isn't a goal that will happen in the next year or two, but she expects that young Buoy is a horse fully capable of winning the big time.