She has competed in English dressage and eventing, “dabbled in roping,” and has performed trick riding, “all that good stuff,” she said on Oct. 10, two days after her 17th birthday.
But her latest horseback sport is truly a barrel of fun for the daughter of JeanMarie and Pasquale Coppola, who run County Line Stables, an all-purpose horse and cattle farm on Route 67.
Martina Rose is a barrel racer.
And she’s really good at it.
The sport asks horse and rider to sprint around three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern, pitching the horse at seemingly impossible lateral angles, while the rider serves as a pilot, which requires strength and balance … and guts.
While Martina Rose is “a tiny thing,” her dad said, she has competed at the highest levels and currently holds the fastest time for the season (14.6 seconds) at Midland Barrels in Fonda, on CLS Point Me to The Bar.
In the equine sports world, barrel racing is the opposite of dressage, where you’re judged on form and precision. The only thing that counts in the barrel arena is speed, and the faster racers finish in less than 15 seconds. That carries a substantial appeal to Coppola.
“It’s an adrenaline rush, for sure,” she said. “It’s fun to chase the lead. So when someone goes in and sets the time, you try and beat it. Personally, I like when I can go in there and set the time. It’s a good position to be in. I like someone trying to chase me instead of chasing someone.”
The barrel racing season began for her in April, and 2024 has taken her to Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut and Virginia for competition. At the Midland Barrel Series September Show, Coppola was the 1D division winner in the Midland Open, Midland Youth, National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) open and NBHA youth against over 125 riders from eight states.
In July, she was 1D first in the Youth Slot Race, Youth Open all ages (1-18) and Youth Senior (16-18) at the Young Guns Barrel Race.
In 2020, she made it to the NBHA Youth & Teen World Championships in Perry, Georgia, and was a finalist, a big breakthrough in her career. Of about 1,600 competitors, only 25 make the finals in five divisions.
In 2020, she made it to the National Barrel Horse Association Youth & Teen World Championships in Perry, Georgia, and was a finalist, a big breakthrough in her career. Of about 1,600 competitors, only 25 make the finals in five divisions.
The goal for 2025 is return to the Worlds.
“It was terrifying. No sugarcoating, it was scary,” she said with a laugh. “I did well. I placed in the 3D [division], and I would’ve liked to do better, but it was my first time down there, so I couldn’t really ask for much. And I was also only 13. For my first time down there and as young as I was, I did pretty well.”
Coppola’s absence from the Worlds since then has been more a product of logistics than anything else. She has qualified for the last nine years.
A typical day for Martina Rose, who is home-schooled, starts on the farm at 6 a.m. to help her parents with the myriad chores and work required to keep the horses and cows happy and healthy.
The property, which the Coppolas opened in 2006, includes a large indoor training barn and a large outdoor training area, and some wooded riding trails.
Because the work is non-stop, it’s difficult for the family to leave for any length of time. The Georgia trip, for example, is a two-week time commitment that simply doesn’t fit into their schedule.
“My vacation’s right here every day. I don’t need to put my foot in the sand … I’ve got a sandbox right over there,” Pasquale said with a laugh, pointing to the sandy surface of the indoor training barn.
“It [Worlds] was exciting for us. We were so proud,” JeanMarie said. “It was rewarding to do that, on a horse that they trained from nothing and got her to that level. And then to be able to actually be a finalist. We were ecstatic.”
While some barrel racers ride horses owned by other people, Martina Rose has been connected to hers from the moment they were foaled and has trained them with a practiced hand that reflects her father’s philosophy, which he developed from having attended clinics conducted by the renowned Ray Hunt.
She starts them at 2 and keeps it light — no barrels — until they’re older, giving the horses’ joints a better chance to fully round into form.
“When they’re halfway through their 3-year-old year, I can put them on the pattern. By then, their joints are starting to close, and their brain is intact,” she said with a laugh. “It takes about six years to get a horse really good. The horse that’s holding the season record is going to turn 5, so he’s just getting there. Next year, he’ll be 6 and probably will step up his game more.”
“I taught her how to work horses off of feel,” Pasquale said. “A lot of people don’t even understand what that means. You have a feel for the horse, and the horse has a feel for you. That’s how you get them to do just about anything.
“There’s obviously different ways to get to that point, mechanically and forcefully. We try not to do that. We work with the horse.”
While Pasquale believes Martina Rose needs to look into an exercise routine to get stronger, her work around the farm keeps her fit.
She gets on 8-10 horses every day, including her two competition-ready ones, including CLS Point Me to The Bar.
“The core strength that you have to have to ride is amazing, to stay centered when that horse is diving into that barrel,” JeanMarie said. “And when the horse does something unexpected, you have to be able to maintain that position and keep on going.
“Yeah, she picks up those bales and puts them on a hay elevator. She picks up 50-pound bags of grain and carries them around. You don’t need a gym when you have a farm.”
Of course, barrel racing is inherently dangerous, because of the physical forces at play during those 15 seconds.
Martina Rose’s injuries include a concussion and broken ribs.
When asked if they get nervous when Martina Rose is racing, Pasquale said, “All the time.”
“All the time,” JeanMarie echoed.
“You can get crippled up pretty easy, and your career is over,” Pasquale said. “You’re going 35, 40 miles an hour, making a fast turn, and you’ve got to do three of them in a row, That’s pretty dangerous.
“She’s been to Albany Med a couple times.”
“It’s scary,” JeanMarie said. “As spectators, our hearts race for her.”
Martina Rose rode in her first leadline show when she was 3, and by the time she was 6 she was thinking about barrel racing, in part because the sport offers prize money, and got serious about it when she was 8.
She wants to make it a profession, and already has some sponsors, including ProElite feed and the Malta Farm and Garden.
Over the weekend, she raced faster than everybody at the All Gas No Brakes High Stakes Slot Race in Fonda, but was disqualified for knocking over a barrel.
All Gas No Brakes is a fitting description of her equine experience since her parents first sat Martina Rose on a horse before she was a year old.
“Ever since then I never stopped,” she said.
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