The three-time World Champion barrel racer details her self-made journey, from her non-horse family roots and childhood dream to her record-breaking career and passion for training champions.
Barrel racer Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi has already solidified her place among the elite in rodeo history by winning three Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) World Championships (2007, 2009, and 2023). A veteran of the sport with numerous National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifications and millions in career earnings, the Texas cowgirl is not just a fierce competitor in the arena, but also a dedicated horse breeder and trainer whose passion for her equine partners has become the cornerstone of her record-breaking career.
While many champions are born into rodeo, Pozzi Tonozzi’s path to becoming a multiple World Champion was less conventional. She pursued her passion from the ground up, starting with classified ads and the patience of a father who thought her interest in horses was a passing fancy.
“I didn’t come from a horse family, which is kind of odd,” Pozzi Tonozzi shared. “Most people that are this steeped in the business come from a horse background. Growing up, I would get the newspaper from our neighborhood and every night I would get the classified ads out and I would circle a horse I liked, a horse I wanted them to call on. I think my dad thought it was a phase. That phase never passed. Finally, my mom said, ‘We’re going to have to get her a horse, she isn’t giving up.’
“Actually, I really wanted to be a jockey,” Pozzi Tonozzi added. “I didn’t even know how to ride a horse, and I wanted to be a jockey. In high school, my dad worked for a guy who had racehorses, and he said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
NEED FOR SPEED
Her father may have put the brakes on a career as a jockey, but the need for speed still ran through Pozzi Tonozzi’s veins. Once a horse finally became a reality for the young Texan, she quickly began charting her own path toward high-stakes competition.
“I didn’t really start competing until I was 12. We got involved in the local 4-H, doing Halter and Western Pleasure. I didn’t really like that. It was too slow. I wanted to ride and go fast, and that’s when I started barrel racing. We got a horse. We had some family land outside of Victoria, Texas, so she was turned out on a 50-acre tract. We had no clue what we were doing, but we had a horse. We didn’t have a trailer at first. We rode her on our first play day, probably five miles down the road. I rode her there and my dad and my sister rode her back. Then we got more serious and bought a trailer and bought my sister a horse. After that, we bought me a horse that knew the barrels, a horse I could compete on at the junior rodeos.
“It was basically a lot of trial and error early on, but me and my dad got out there and figured it out,” Tonozzi continued. “I progressed and got a pole horse and roped and tied goats. But, of course, my passion was always barrel racing.”
Pozzi Tonozzi’s quest for a fast horse led to a moment of serendipity that launched her professional career. The horse that would eventually take her to the professional ranks was, ironically, not meant for her but her younger sister, Brooke.
“The horse I made the finals on in 2003, my rookie year, was ‘Leroy,’” Pozzi Tonozzi said. “My dad bought that horse for my sister. But ‘Leroy’ and my sister didn’t get along, so my dad made us trade horses. It went gangbusters after that. I won my high school rodeo region. Two years in a row I won state. I won nationals, and the very next year I won my college region and made the NFR. After that I was hooked. I realized that was what I wanted to do. I was attending Texas A&M University at the time. I went for two semesters and then I talked my parents into letting me not re-enroll. It ended up being a good decision even though back then my parents were skeptical of it. However, it ended up working out.”
In 2003, Pozzi Tonozzi became the first rookie to qualify in the WPRA standings for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and her exploits that season earned her Rookie of the Year honors in the WPRA barrel racing. While her first trip to the NFR on an unlikely mount felt like a fairy tale, reality quickly set in. After missing the finals the following year, Pozzi Tonozzi knew she had to shift from being purely a competitor to an entrepreneur, establishing the foundation of her horse breeding and training program.
“I knew rodeo was something I always wanted to do,” Pozzi Tonozzi said. “I didn’t make the finals in 2004, and I thought this isn’t as easy as I thought it was. That’s when I kept myself grounded. I also realized I couldn’t afford to buy what horses cost, and my parents were no longer in the market to pay for my things. That is when I started training and raising horses, and that is where all of that started.”
A PASSION FOR HORSES
The core drive for Pozzi Tonozzi is a passion for horses. Her motivation is deeply rooted in her equine partners and the continuous challenges that barrel racing offers.
“The first and foremost motivation is the horses,” Pozzi Tonozzi said. “To be able to do this and stay in this so long, you have to love the horses because they can make it difficult when they don’t want to be part of the team. It’s also the love of competition. It starts over every year, and no one is guaranteed success.
“I like the challenge of having good horses every year and training good horses every year,” she added. “I feel more like a well-oiled machine now with my routine, how I keep things moving forward.
“Lately, my role has changed a little bit. I used to only ride my own horses, but I have fixed a few horses that were successful futurity horses but then came off that success and didn’t do too well at the rodeos. I have turned into a bit of a fixer. Whether they need vet work or a different bridle or need a different program. That’s been my role lately. Next year I am looking forward to mainly riding my own horses.”
Some of the top horses Pozzi Tonozzi has won with include…
