Taylor Manning CFR 2025

Taylor Manning has qualified for her eighth Canadian Finals Rodeo. The two-time Canadian Barrel Racing Champion finished second in the regular season standings with $41,145.53 earned after competing at 33 rodeos, placing at 15, winning three, and finishing second in the regular season standings.

Bringin The Bling (Blings Smooth Guy x Six Moons For Nick) aka Bling and Designed by the King (Slick By Design x Ms Gunbattle) aka Praise.

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What is your main mounts back story?
I bought both horses sight unseen. Bling and Praise have completely different styles, but I loved the heart and feeling they both had. I still remember the day Bling got home, I probably took 100 photos of her. There was something that I just loved about her; she could do nothing wrong, even from the start. Praise has always been one of my favourite horses too. She has one of the kindest, sweetest personalities, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. I loved how she loped around, it felt like she was floating, her feet hit the ground so soft. 

As an eight-time qualifier, what is some advice you would pass on to any of the first time qualifiers, in any event? 
I believe if you work hard enough, you can make anything happen. Keep your horse as happy as you can and feeling good. I strongly believe in those two things. And enjoy the journey. 

What was your most memorable run this season, and what made it memorable?
I think my most memorable runs would have been at The Runaway. Bling running her first 16 on a standard, and Praise shocked me by running a 16.8. Not that I believed that she couldn’t run a 16.8, just that I felt like I messed her first up a bit. (Click here to watch Taylor and Praise run a 16.8)

What was different about your rodeo season this year compared to last year? 
We bought a place in Ponoka, which helped being less hours away from home, and less hours hauling the horses. It’s nice being central, getting to put more focus on training the young ones and jackpotting!  

What challenges did you face this year, and how did you overcome them? How do you keep confidence when things aren't going as planned, or you are in a slump? 
We trust our homework. If things are going good or as planned, we go home, work and try to fix things so that we can try and be ready for the rodeos on the weekend. Then when we go to make our run. We trust our horses, and that they are going to work good. 

Tell readers something good that happened to you this season, other than winning or placing at a rodeo? 
We spent a lot of time this summer building our place up. It’s been a fun process, building pens and setting it up safe for the horses. I have also got to spend more time home this year, getting to ride the young ones. I feel like they teach me something new everyday. I also got to stay in Texas last winter, it was amazing. I loved the atmosphere there, and loved the place I got to stay at. Dawn and Brad Link were amazing, and I’m excited to go back this winter!! 

What is your least favourite part of being on the rodeo road, and what is your favourite?
My least favourite part would be the days I miss riding on young ones when I’m rodeoing. My favourite part would be the memories I make with my friends, horses and my dog, aka “Lady”. She is the best pup.

What therapies are a must have for your horse?  
My horses get worked on by Jill Vandergust with her Equiscope. They love it and feel great from it. Lyndel Kelemen does osteopath on them as well. My horses live in their Back On Track blankets!! I also like to ice their legs in a bucket.

How do you manage to balance life at home/work with life on the road? 
When I am on the road I usually try and bring as many horses as I can so that I can still keep them getting rode and get them used to seeing the sights. It’s like free exhibitions but 10 times scarier. I am also pretty lucky that when I am not home, my mom and sister take great care of my horses! It’s nice being able to have people that you can trust that are going to take care of your horses as good as you would! 

Who did you travel with this year? Do you have a funny or heart warming story you could share about your time together, or anything you would like to share about them? 
The stories that I have with Jennifer are endless. I think my favourite one is when we went to California. We got to hit a few rodeos there, and then on our way back we blew a tire. We finally find a tire shop and it turns out all the tires need to be changed. So we get them all changed, and were headed to Cloverdale for the rodeo. Once we pull into Cloverdale, Jen takes an extra wide turn and hooks the gate on her trailer ladder. Somehow both of us don’t see or hear it. We carry on, and once we go to unload the horses I see that the plexy glass on my horses window is broken. I dont think much of it. Bertina finds us and says, a guy is looking for us and that we took the gate out. We hooked the gate, and some how flipped it. In Jen’s defence, it was a long drive, and we were tired.  

How are you preparing for the Canadian Finals Rodeo practise wise? What is your routine like to be ready for Edmonton? 
We have gone to a few indoors to practice running in a smaller arena, trying to get my timing ready for CFR. We also have been doing a mix of round penning, slow work on the pattern and some sprinting. I tried to get off all my colts about a week out before CFR, so that I’m not in trainer mode. 

If your horse was an actor/actress in a movie, who would play them, or if your horse was a character from a movie, which character do they remind you of and why?
My sister thinks Bling would be Beth off Yellowstone. She thinks bling is tough and has too much attitude. She thinks shes pushy, I think shes a princess. 

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up, and what do you do now? 
I’ve always wanted to be a barrel racer so it’s pretty cool that I get to live the dream everyday!! 

If you could swing a leg over another qualifier's horse, who would it be and why?
I love Karli Cowie’s mare Fling. She’s so gritty, and has such a big heart. 

How many barrel horses do you currently have in your string, tell us about them?
I have Bling and Praise as my main mounts and a couple four year olds coming up. The one four year old I have is named Stetson. He’s by RNJ Heckofafrenchman and out or a Title Contender mare x Firewater Flit. I’m really excited about him, he’s been so fun lately. He’s kinda special to me because I got to see him being born and started him. He’s got a cool color as well, a palomino with splashes of a redish color throughout his body. 

I’d like to thank my sponsors, Frontier Western Shop, Vault Construction, Back On Track Canada, Vetline Equine Canada, Mill Iron Livestock, Equienty, Anchor C Performance Horses, and Zesterra by Pro Animal Health, for helping my horses and I do what we love.

Thanks to my sister for taking care of my horses while I’m gone.

Thanks to my mom for always trying to help me get better, and all the support you have given me.

Thanks to Tanner Equine and Energy Equine for keeping my horses happy and healthy.

Thanks to Rana Koopmans for always being a phone call away, and for everything you have done for my horses and I!