Nancy's grandpa, a dairy farmer, found an old horse for Nancy to ride, and her parents eventually bought her another older horse and enrolled their persistent daughter in 4-H. In high school, Nancy bought herself an old horse and participated in every "play day" (riding club) event she could pay someone to haul her horse to. "I was pretty determined," Nancy said. Sometimes, Nancy couldn't find someone to haul her horse, so she'd slide the horse rack into the back of the family pickup, load up her horse, and head down the freeway toward an event.
Fortunately, Nancy met Fred Hunter when she was 16. He had graduated from high school and had shown several horses, including some world champions. He found Nancy a "horse that ran" and began transporting her to rodeos, and, as you might have guessed, Fred has been doing similar favors for Nancy ever since.
Although back then Nancy teased Fred that she was only dating him because he had a truck and trailer, there was clearly something more to their relationship; the couple married after Nancy graduated from high school. To this day, Nancy gives Fred credit for all of her rodeo successes: "Everybody knows I'm not a trainer. I just get on the horse and hang on! Fred is the best horseman I've ever met, and I love that he's light-handed with the horses; his animals want to work for him because they like him. He is also my driver. He loves his XM radio. I love to crawl in the back and sleep. I think I'm really spoiled!"
Nancy was a state champion and qualified for the High School National Finals Rodeo both her junior year (in pole bending) and senior year (in polebending, goat tying and barrel racing).
Nancy supported her boys and stepped out of the limelight while they were in school. In the meantime, Nancy went back to college to become a Registered Nurse. Nancy explained, "I like to work fast and think fast. I have an addiction for speed. I'm somewhat of an adrenaline junkie, so naturally, I worked in trauma."
About five years ago, Nancy realized how much she missed the adrenaline rush associated with barrel racing: "You're on your horse, and he's running down a pitch black alley as fast as he can. Suddenly, you enter a lit arena, and it's time to think fast. You have to have faith that your horse will instantly obey your cue. It's an amazing feeling. I think if I hadn't gotten into rodeo, I'd drive race cars!"
About the time Nancy had the desire to reenter the rodeo scene, Fred had a horse sent to him to train. "He was just ugly," Nancy said with a laugh. "Fred put a lot of work into him, and eventually the owner called and said he'd decided to just sell the horse. He told Fred to look for a buyer." The horse was 6 years old by then, and Fred and Nancy couldn't convince a single person to even ride the horse. "He wants to be a barrel horse," Nancy would tell people, but still no one came. Eventually, Nancy decided to buy the horse, and that was a decision she has never regretted. "He was a great horse getting back into barrels," she said.
Fondly known as "Fuzz", this horse, though not much to look at, entered the Wilderness Circuit in 2007 with Nancy in the saddle. Nancy explained: "We didn't enter many rodeos that year, around 25, but Fuzz got better and better, and Fred kept training him and riding him all the time. In 2007, Fuzz's first year, Nancy won the Wilderness Circiut, and Fuzz was ranked among the top 35 barrel horses in the nation."
The next year, Fuzz and Nancy set several arena records, most of which still stand. They won the Wilderness Circuit again and were among the top 25 in the nation, an incredible feat considering that they only entered 28 rodeos on Fuzz (a lot of the other pro women enter 60 or 70 rodeos each year), 20 on her colt.
In 2009, Fuzz and Nancy won $18,000 at a single rodeo in Denver, which was more than any of the cowboys! He set an arena record at the Snake River Stampede. "Fuzz has more than paid his way," Nancy said. "He doesn't owe me anything. Someday he'll enter the 'geriatric pen' with all the other horses we love. He's earned it." With the great risk for injury to the animal with barrel racing, Fred has begun training a younger horse for Nancy to ride to allow Fuzz to rest. "Big Gun" is much smaller, but he occasionally outruns Fuzz.
Nancy stated that her goal for her future in rodeo is to "have some fun." She has entered the Wilderness Circuit again and hopes for another trip to the Circuit finals. "You never know what will happen, though," Nancy said. "You need healthy horses and some luck to make it to finals, and that doesn't always happen when you're asking your horses to run all the time. So I don't take it too seriously. I enter rodeos held at places I want to see.
The Hunters enter more than one rodeo every week end but always return home late Saturday night or early Sunday morning so that Nancy can teach her primary class at church—another of Nancy's talents that has become somewhat of a hobby!
One of Fred's most recent successes is in bit making. He designs bits for professional riders, and his customers are happy, but until recently he didn't have the resources to make large quantities.
While at a rodeo in Fort Worth, the Hunters met Martha Josey, who is probably the most well-known woman in rodeo. Now in her 70s, Josie is still known for her winnings years ago, but she has done a lot for rodeo since, such as building big schools and marketing bits and saddles. Josey liked the Hunters from their first meeting (who wouldn't?) and invited them to stay at her ranch in Marshall, Texas. Eventually, Josey had Fred riding her world-champion horses with his custom-made bits. Josey chose four of Fred's styles to market, so now those bits will be made in large quantities and will have the Josey name to back them. The Hunters are excited about the new partnership and the Josey-Hunter bit line.
Fred is also known internationally for his training skills, and serious horsemen will fly him to their locations to ride and school their horses. Fred is known for training horses to be consistent. Nancy stated, "People comment that my horses look exactly the same on every run. We don't always win, but we're consistently in the top 3 or 4, and we usually always get a check."
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