Jordon Talbot, 14, a freshman at Centerville High School, rode her horse Kitaman Sam to a Iowa Rodeo Cowboy's Association (IRCA) championship Sept. 7 through 9 at Osceola.

Going into the finals, she was about $400 behind her nearest competitor and was sitting second in the standings. But after all the dust settled from the three performances, it was Jordon and her horse "Kit" who won each go and the average.

That put Talbot on top of the standings to win the championship. Since this is her first year to be a member of the IRCA, she also was named rookie cowgirl for the 2007 season. Her horse "Kit" was also honored by all the other contestants who voted him barrel horse of the year.

Although this was Talbot’s and Kit's rookie year in the IRCA, they are not new at the sport of barrel racing. Jordon has been competing since she was 7 years old and has had Kit for about 1 1/2 years. They immediately became a good team and they won the Iowa NBHA all district show in Waterloo in both the Open and the Youth class and the Iowa National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) youth state championship in 2006.

Competing in the NBHA, they qualified to go to the NBHA Youth World in Jackson, Miss., in July. There they competed against 1,075 other youth barrel racers from all over the world. Only the top 20 in each division qualified to compete in the short go. Jordon and Kit were the only team from Iowa to qualify and won 16th in the world for her division and a trophy buckle.

Jordon is the daughter of Rob and Angie Talbot.