Pole bending prelims with 157 contestants begins at 4 p.m. today. Barrel racing prelims are set for 8 a.m. Friday with 167 entries and stake racing prelims follow at 1 p.m. with 153 entries.
All events are in the horse barn.
The top 20 in each event will compete in the finals starting Saturday at 9 a.m. in the horse barn. Other events scheduled the next three days are showmanship at halter, halter geldings, halter mares and western horsemanship. All three speed events are timed pattern runs. In pole bending, a rider sprints to the far end of the arena, weaves through six poles in one direction and then runs the pattern in the opposite direction, making another sprint to pass through the timing device in the quickest time. Stephanie Byrd of Bandera County has won the stake race event for the past five years and is returning this year.